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EXTINCT ANIMALS 


Extinct Animals 


By 
BE) RAY LANKESTER, M-A., LL.D... F.R.S, 


Director of the Natural History Departments of the 
British Museum; Correspondent of the Institute 


of France 


WiTH 218 ILLUSTRATIONS 


NEW YORK 
HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 
1905 


BUTLER & TANNER, 
THE SELWOOD PRINTING WORKS, 
FROME, AND LONDON, 


PREFACE 


HIS volume is a corrected shorthand report 

of the course of lectures adapted to a 
juvenile audience given by me during the Christ- 
mas holidays 1903-4 at the Royal Institution, 
London. The lantern slides which I used in 
the lectures have been converted into process 
blocks. Many of these were photographs 
specially prepared under my direction for the 
lectures, and are from specimens in the Natural 
History Museum. My desire was, as far as 
possible, to illustrate what I said by photo- 
graphs taken from actual specimens. Some of 
these have come out fairly well as process- 
blocks. For several of the slides and figures 
I have to thank my friend and colleague 
Dr. Arthur Smith Woodward, Keeper of the 
Geological Department of the Museum, to 
whom I am greatly indebted for kind help in 
many ways in regard to these lectures. Ihave 


Vv 


PREFACE 


also to thank other friends for the loan of 
lantern-slides and consequent process-blocks, 
viz.. Mr. R. lLydekker, Dr. lBather, Dr. 
Andrews and Mr. Pyecraft of the British 
Museum, and Professor Sollas of Oxford. Jam 
also indebted to the Trustees of the British 
Museum for permission to use several figures of 
extinct animals taken from the guide-books to 
the Natural History Museum, published by 
their order, to Messrs. Macmillan & Co., and 
to Mr. John Murray. 

I trust that this volume will not be regarded 
as anything more ambitious than an attempt 
to excite in young people an interest in a 
most fascinating study, and that it will be 
understood that it does not profess to give 
more than a peep at the strange and won- 
derful history of extinct animals. 


EK. RAY LANKESTER. 
1905. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER I 


ANIMALS WHICH HAVE LATELY BECOME EXTINcCT— 
THE STRATA OF THE EArtTuH’s CRUST 


CHAPTER II 


STRATA AND LAanD SuRFACES—TEETH AND BoNES— 
Extinct Men—F tint IMpLEMENTS—THE Mam- 
MOTH ELEPHANTS AND MaAstoDON—CLASSIFT- 
CATION OF ANIMALS 


CHAPTER III 


THE ANCESTRAL HistoRY oF ELEPHANTS—EXTINCT 
HorsEs AND RHINOCEROSES—THE ARSINOITHE- 
RIUM , , 5 


CHAPTER IV 


EXTINCT GIRAFFES AND THE OKAPI—THE GIANT 
SLOTHS OF SOUTH AMERICA AND THE GIANT Kan- 
GAROOS OF AUSTRALIA 

vii 


PAGE 


59 


103 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER V PAGE 


THe Great Extinct REpTILES—DINOSAURS FROM 
THE OOLITES—THE PARIASAURUS AND INOSTRAN- 
SEVIA FROM THE TRIAS OF NorTH RUSSIA AND 
South ArricAa—MariIneé REPTILES ; . 100 


CHAPTER VI 


Extinct FisHES—BELEMNITES — LINGULA — TRILO- 
BITES—SCORPIONS AND STONE LILIES . . 245 


vill 


Mist. .OF 1LEUST RATIONS 


Portrait of the Author b ‘ : . Frontispiece 


Fic. PAGE 


1. A number of bones of extinct animals embedded in 
rock, from Pikermi near Athens : : , 2 


2. Head of an Ichthyosaurus, from the Liassic rocks of 
Lyme Regis : ; ‘ : : 5 6 


3. The skeleton of the Megatherium found in the 
alluvial sands of the Argentine Republic . : ii 


4, The skeleton of a gigantic extinct rat-like animal— 
the Toxodon—from the Argentine Republic : 8 


5. Photographs of two skulls of Rhinoceroses in the 
Natural History Museum ; : ‘ : 10 


i=) 


. Photograph of the thigh-bone of the great extinct 
reptile, Atlantosaurus, from the oainnecic rocks 
of the United States of America . : ‘ 11 


7. The Common Grey Wolf (Canis lupus) of eS 
once common in England é : 14 


8. Photograph of a mounted specimen of the Beaver 15 


9. Skull of the great extinct Bull, the Bos Primigenius 
or the Urus, or Aurochs . Wy 


1X 


15a. Egg of the Great Auk, of the natural size 


16. 


17. 


18. 


19: 


20. 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


Photograph of two Giraffes from life . 


. Photograph of the living Quagga (Equus quagga), 


. Photograph of the living Zebra (Equus birchelli) . 


Steller’s drawing of the Sea-cow discovered by him 


and called Rhytina stelleri 


Photographed with its egg 


Reproduction of a picture of the Dodo, mii ve 
Roland Savery from life, in 1626 ; 


. Photograph of a skull of Steller’s Sea-cow 


. The Great Auk, or Gure-fowl (Alca impennis). 


A nearly complete skeleton of the Dodo, put to- 
gether from bones collected by Mr. George Clark 


in a marshy pool in Mauritius 


The living Giant Tortoise of the Court House, 


Mauritius F 


The ruins of the ancient Roman public buildings at 


Puzzuoli (Puteoli) near Naples 


One of the three columns of the “ 


Puzzuoli . . . 5 


Empire (third century) . 


. Puzzuoli at the present day 


. Puzzuoli in the ninth century . 


temple ” 


at 


. Puzzuoli or Puteoli in the time of the Roman 


. Imaginary view of Spanish sailors carving an 
inscription on rocks at sea-level in 1600 4.D., on 


the Chilian coast 


. The same rocks as they would appear in 1900, raised 


150 feet above the sea-level by an imperceptible 
movement of six inches a year . 


x 


26 


27 


29 


32 


39 


40 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


Fic. 


26. 


28. 


29. 


30. 


31. 


32. 


33. 


34. 
35. 


36. 


37. 


38. 


39. 


40. 


Map to show the effect of elevation of the earth’s 
surface on the distribution of land and water in 
Western Europe 


. The real test of Geology : an attempt to determine 


the distribution of land and water in past ages. 


Photograph of a slab of Bognor Rock (Lower 
Eocene) showing embedded marine shells 


Skeleton of a tapir-like animal (Palzotherium) as 
found embedded in ealcareous rock at Montmartre, 
Paris 


Wings of a Dragon-fly preserved in the ancient 
limestone of the Carboniferous period or Coal- 
bearing rocks . 


Pterodactyle skeleton preserved in Lithographic 
limestone, showing the impression of the mem- 
brane of the wings . 


A jelly-fish (similar to the recent Awrelia auriia) 
preserved in Lithographic limestone 


Alternate layers of hard and soft rock (“‘ strata ’’) 
forming the sea-cliff at Lyme Regis 


Tilted strata of the Chalk at Seaford, Sussex. 
Strata of the cliff at Lyme Regis 


Diagram to show the effect of the bending or un- 
dulation of the earth’s crust : : : 


Ripple-marks preserved in ancient Triassic strata . 


Bird-like footprints on a slab of Triassic rock from 
Connecticut, U.S.A. 


Three-toed~ footprint (probably of Iguanodon) 
from the ,;Wealden Sandstone of the Isle of Wight 


Slab of Triassic rock from Cheshire, showing hand- 
like five-fingered footprints . : ° . 


x1 


PAGE 


4] 


43 


45 


46 


47 


47 


ou 
ou 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


Fic. PAGE 


41. A tabular view of the strata of the earth’s crust, 
showing the relative thickness of each “‘ system”’ 
or group of strata, and the position in which 
important animal remains have been discovered. 60 


42. Map of the World, showing its division into great 
provinces and regions characterised by the 
presence of different kinds of animals : , 63 


43. Photograph of the original piece (seven inches long) 
of a thigh bone of a gigantic bird, from the 
examination of which Sir Richard Owen inferred 
the former existence of a ee flightless bird in 
New Zealand . : : : - 68 


44, Photograph of Sir Richard Owen standing beside 
the restored skeleton of the New Zealand Moa 
(Dinornis maximus) 3 - : - : 69 


45. Photograph of the skeleton of Manand Horse from 
a group, prepared under the direction of Sir 
William Flower for the Natural History Museum 71 
46. Photograph of the back of a skull of an Ox ,. ‘ie 
47. Photograph of the back of a Crocodile’s skull . 74 


48. Drawing of the auditory organ or internal ear of 
man . ‘ : é : i : 75 


49. Photograph from a section through the bone in 
which the soft internal ear is lodged . 5 75 


50. Photograph from preparations of the upper and 
lower jaw of a Pig, to show the teeth in position. 78 


51. Photograph of a preparation of the teeth of the 
upper and lower jaw of a Pig. = - 79 


52. Photograph of a preparation of the upper and lower 
jawbone ofman : ; : ; - 80 


53. Skull of the Clouded Tiger ° . ° o) anol 


54. Photograph of the skull of the Coypu Rat . - 82 
xii 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


Fig. 
55. Jaws of the Gharial, an Indian crocodile 


56. Photograph of the skull and lower a of a true 
Crocodile 5 


57. Enlarged representation of the lower jaw of a small 
mammal (Amphitheriwm prevostii) from the 
‘Stonesfield slate of Jurassic (Oolite) age near 
Oxford . 


58. Photographs of two flint Se Ee of the’ Palzo- 
lithic age : : ‘ 


59. Photograph of the top of the skull or “ calvaria ”’ 
of=the so-called Monkey-man, P2thecanthropus, 
discovered in Java . 


594. Photograph cf a human skull of modern to aes 
race . - 


60. Engravings on ivory and boneXjmade by ancient 
men, who lived in caves in the South of France at 
the time when the mammoth, reindeer, bear and 
hyena inhabited Europe 


61. Engraving on ivory found in a cave in the South 
of France 


62. The skeleton of the Mammoth found frozen in 
Siberia . 


63. Skeleton of a male of the giant Irish deer (Cervus 
giganteus) dug up from peat in Ireland 


64. An imaginary picture of the Mammoth (Elephas 
primigenius) as it appeared in life : 


65. Photograph from life of the Indian tas 
(Zlephus maximus), incompletely grown 


66. Photograph of a young specimen of ‘the African 
Elephant (Elephas africanus) from life 


67. Two tusks of Elephants photographed from speci- 
mens in the Natural History Museum : 


Xili 


84 


86 


89 


91 


92 


93 


94 


96 


97 


98 


99 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


Fie. 

68. Skeleton of the American Mastodon (Mastodon 
americanus), from a drawing by the late Professor 
Marsh : : ' : 

69. Skeleton of Indian Elephant (Elephas maximus) 


70. Skull of an adult Indian Elephant 


71. Photographs of skulls of a Bull-dog on the left and 
of a Greyhound on the right to show the shortening 
of the bones of the face in the first . 


72. Photograph of the skull of the American Mastodon 
(Mastodon americanus), frcm the specimen in the 
Natural History Museum 

73. Skull of a new-born Indian Elephant 

74. Section of the skull of a young Indian Elephant 

75. Section of a half-grown Indian Elephant’s skull 

76. Lower jaw of an Indian Elephant . 

76a. The last molar of the lower jaw of a Mammoth 

77. Lower jaw of an adult African Elephant 


78. Lower jaw of the American Mastodon 


78a. Molar teeth of Mastodon arvernensis, photographed 
from specimens found in the Red Crag of Suffolk. 


79. Photograph of the complete skeleton of Mastodon 
(Tetrabelodon) angustidens, from the Miocene 
strata of the South of France 


80. Restored representation of the skull and lower jaw 
of Mastodon (Tetratelodon) angustidens, from a 
drawing prepared by Dr. Henry Woodward, F.R.S. 


81. The skull of Dinotherium giganteum, Kemp, from 
the Miocene of Eppelsheim, near, Worms, on the 
Rhine ‘ : ; 


X1V 


PAGE 


100 


101 


104 


105 


106 
107 
108 
109 
110 
111 
112 


113 


115 


116 


118 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


Fic. 


82. 


83. 


84. 


85. 


86. 


87. 


88. 


89. 
90. 


91. 


92. 


93. 


94. 


95. 


96. 


oT. 


Drawing representing the probable appearance in 
life of the Tetrabelodon angustidens 


A drawing of the head of Tetrabelodon anqgustidens 
with open mouth and uplifted “ trunk.’’. : 


Drawing of the head of the African Elephant, with 
uplifted trunk 


A scene in the Fayum Desert, showing the remains 
of silicified trees, embedded in the sands 


Profile views of a series of Elephant ancestors, from 
drawings by Dr. Andrews 


Lower jaws of extinct Elephants, from drawings by 
Dr. Andrews 


Profile and palatine views of the skull of Meri- 
therium Lyonsi, as restored by Dr. Andrews 


The Meritherium, discovered by Dr. Andrews 


Photograph of a model of a ee ed Sit 
horse, by Vashtag . 


Hind- and fore-foot of an English cart-horse 


Hind-foot and fore-foot of the horse-ancestor, 
Hyracotherium 


The hind- and the fore-foot of Hipparion, one of the 
three-toed ancestors of the horse 


The skeleton of Hyracotherium, an ancestor of the 
modern horse, found in Eocene strata. 


Restoration of the probable appearance of the 
Hyracotherium : ‘ 


Skeleton of the Phenacodus, a five-toed Eocene ani- 
mal, related to the ancestor of the Horse 


Cheek-teeth or molars of the upper and lower jaw, 
left side, of Mesohippus Bairdii, from the Middle 
Oligocene of South Dakota 


XV 


PAGE 


119 


137 


138 


139 


140 


141 


141 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


Fic. 


98. 


99. 


100. 


107 


108. 


109. 


110. 


cB UUIE 


112. 


113. 


114. 


Upper molar tooth of a recent Horse . 


The skeleton of Rhinoceros antiquitatis, the Woolly 
Rhinoceros of the late Pleistocene period in 
Europe and Siberia 


Photograph of a stuffed specimen of the Square- 
mouthed African Rhinoceros (R. simus F 


. Skeleton of Titanotherium (Brontops) robustum, 


from the Lower Miocene of Dakota 


2. Photograph of a skull of Titanotherium 
. Side-viewJof the skull of Titanotherium 
. Skeleton of Déinoceras mirabile 


. Probable appearance in life of the Dznoceras 


mirabile of North America 


. Photographs of plaster casts of the brain-cavity of 


(A) Dinoceras, (B) Hippopotamus, (C) Horse, and 
(D) Rhinoceros : : : ; : : 


Drawing of the skull of Arsindithertum Tittelli 
(Beadnell) ; : 3 : ; 


A drawing showing the probable appearance in life 
of Arsinditherium . 5 : ‘ 


Drawing of the head of the Five-horned Giraffe 
Photograph of the skull of the Five-horned Giraffe 


Front teeth of the lower ou of the Giraffe and 
allied animals : : 


Photograph of a restored skull of the Sivatherium 


Photograph of the skull of the Samotherium . 


Restored skeleton of the giraffe-like animal Hella- 
dotherium 


Xvi 


PAGE 
142 


143 


144 


145 
146 
147 


148 


149 


150 


152 


161 


162 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


Fic. PAGE 

115. Photograph of the specimen of the Okapii(Okapia 
erichsoni) obtained by Sir Harry Johnston near the 
Semliki river in Central Africa. : : . 163 


116. Photograph of a skull of a male Okapi . : a = 164 


117. Photograph of the two “* bandoliers ”’ cut from the 
striped part of the skin of an Okapi . ; . 165 


118. Photograph of a stuffed specimen of the two-toed 
Sloth (Cholepus Bue): hanging from a 
branch of atree. : ; : . 168 


119. Photograph of a stuffed specimen of the Hairy 
Armadillo or Peludo (Dasypus villosus)  . . 169 


120. Drawing of the skeleton of the great extinct 
armadillo-like animal called Glyptodon . LTO 


121. Probable appearance in life of the Giant Ground 
Sloth, the Megatherium giganteum . : a lll 


1225 the ekeleton of Mylodon robustus, one of the giant 
Ground Sloths of the Argentine. 5 ‘ - 173 


123. View, looking outwards, from the mouth of the 
cavern on the fiord of the Ultima Speranza in 
Southern Patagonia, in which have been found the 
skin and hair and the bones with cartilage, blood 
and tendon and the dung of the Mylodon and 
other animals . : E : ; : . (174 


124. Photograph of a piece of the skin of the Mylodon 175 


125. The under side of the same piece of skin as that 
shown in Fig. 124 7 : : ; fy l6 


126. Photograph of various specimens found with the 
remains of the Mylodon in the Ultima Speranza 
cave : : a : 5 : . ne ia 


127. Photograph of remains of Mylodon from the cave 
of the Ultima Speranza . 3 : ; + 78 


128. Photograph of a “ barrel-full of bones”? obtained 
by prospectors from the cave of Ultima Speranza 179 


XVil b 


Fic. 
129. 


130. 


131. 


132. 


133. 


134. 


135. 


136. 


137. 


138. 


139. 
140. 


141. 


142. 


143. 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


Photograph having the same history as that shown 
in Fig. 128 


Photograph of three pellets of the dung of the 
Mylodon from the cave of Ultima Speranza 


Photographs of the leg-bone (tibia) of Mylodon, 
from the cave of Ultima Speranza . : : 


Drawing of the skull of the Giant Australian 
Marsupial, Diprotodon 


The restoration of the skeleton of Diprotodon, 
as drawn by the late Sir Richard Owen 


Photograph of the morass or lake in South Australia 
in which the remains of several specimens of 
Diprotodon have been recently discovered 


View of the upper surface of the right hind-foot of 
Diprotodon, as discovered by Professor Stirling of 
Adelaide, South Australia 


Lower jaws of the ancient Mammals, Dromatherium 
(upper—Triassic), and Dryolestes (lower—Juras- 
sic) : : 


Photograph of a cast taken from life of the New 
Zealand lizard Tua-tara, known as Sphenodon 
punctatus 


Phrynosoma orbiculare (Mexican Horned Lizard, or 
Horned Toad) 


Chlamydosaurus kengi, from Queensland, Australia 
Zonurus giganteus (Great Girdled Lizard) 


Drawing of the skeleton of Iguanodon bernissar- 
tensis. : 


Probable appearance of the Iguanodon in its living 
condition : : 


Two teeth of Iguanodon mantelli . 


XVili 


PAGE 


180 


186 


187 


188 


189 


193 


194 


195 
196 


197 


198 


199 


Fig. 
144. 


145. 


146. 


147. 


143. 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


A portion of the upper jaw of the recent lizard 
Iguana . : : 


Photograph of the skull of an Iguanodon . 


Drawing of the skeleton of a carnivorousiDinosaur, 
the Megalosaurus 


Drawing of a completely restored skeleton of the 
Brontosaurus 


Probable appearance of the Ceteosaurus (and of the 
closely similar Divlodochus and Brontosaurus) 
in life , 


. Drawing of the appearance in life of the three- 


horned Dinosaur, Triceratops . 


. Probable appearance in life of the Jurassic Dinosaur, 


Stegosaurus 


. Photograph of the skeleton of Parisaurus . 


. Probable appearance in life of the Theromorph 


Reptile, Dimetrodon 


. View of one of the dark patches in the cliffs of the 


river Dwina 


. One of the nodules showing the form of the em- 


bedded skeleton 


. Peasants working on the face of the cliff near 


Archangel and removing nodules containing the 
skeletons of great reptiles . 2 


. Professor Amalitzki’s workshop in Warsaw . 


. A series of skeletons of Parisaurus removed bit by 


bit from Archangel nodules and mounted as de- 
tached specimens by Professor Amalitzki 


. Photograph of a skeleton of Pariasaurus, removed 


from an enveloping nodule and mounted by 
Professor Amalitzki 


ab: 


PAGE 


200 


202 


203 


205 


206 


207 


208 


211 


212 


213 


214 


215 


216 


217 


218 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


Fie. PAG! 
159. Photograph by Professor Amalitzki on a larger 
seale of askull of a Pariasaurus from an Archangel 
nodule 219 
160. Skeleton of a huge carnivorous beast of prey, the 
reptile named Inostransevia 220 
161. Skull of the vigantic Theromorph Carnivorous 
Reptile, Inostransevia 221 
162. Photograph of another skull of Inostransevia 222 
163. Photograph of a skeleton of a Plesiosaurus . 223 
164. Plesiosaurus as it probably appeared when alive 224 
165. Photograph of a skeleton of the large- Pas 
Ichthyosaurus : 225 
166. Drawing to show the probable appearance of an 
Ichthyosaurus swimming beneath the surface of 
the sea . 226 
167. Photograph of the upper surface of the skull of an 
Ichthyosaurus 3 228 
168. Side view of the skeleton of an Ichthyosaurus 229 
169. Photograph of a restoration of the skeleton of the 
great Pterodactyle (Pteranodon longiceps) 230 
170. The great Ha eae Pteranodon as it pass : 
in flight . : 231 
171. Photographs of three wings for comparison of their 
structure A 233 
172. Probable appearance in life of two kinds of Jurassic 
Pterodactyles (Dimorphodon and Khampho- 
rhynchus) ‘ : : : : . 235 
173. Restored skeleton of the toothed Bird Ichthyornis 237 
174. The Berlin specimen of the Archwopteryx litho- 
graphica 238 


xX 


Fie. 
Lizhss 


176. 


186. 


187. 


188. 


189. 


190. 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


Photographs to one scale of the South American 
Cariama and the skull of the gigantic extinct 
Phororachus 


Photographs to one scale of the Apteryx, the Ostrich 
and the giant Moa of New Zealand, each with its 


ees 


- The hard bony scales of a Ganoid Fish 


. Photograph of a dried skin of the Polypterus of 


the Nile 


. A fossil Ganoid Fish, as discovered embedded in rock 


. Outline drawing of the extinct Ganoid Fish Osteo- 


leps 


. The Australian Lung-fish Ceratodus 

. The extinct Devonian Fish Dipterus . 

. Outline drawings of the extinct fish Pterichthys 
. Photograph of a cardboard model of Pterichthys 


. The upper figure is a restored outline of the curious 


Devonian fish Coeceosteus 


Photograph from the original specimen of Cephalas- 
pis lyeli, preserved in the Natural History 
Museum : , 


Drawings of the head-shield of the fossil fish 
Pteraspis 


Photograph (of the natural size) of a specimen 
showing parts of the upper and lower head-shields 
of Pteraspis crouchii, with ten rows of lozenge- 
shaped scales attached 


Photographs of models of the Devonian Fish 
Drepanaspis, in the Natura] History Museum 


Outline drawing of the Silurian fish Birkenia 


XX1 


PAGE 


Fic. 
191. 


192. 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


Outline drawing of Lasanius 


Photograph of the jaws of a large recent Shark 
(Carcharodon rondeletiz) 


1924. Photograph of the natural size of a tooth of the 


193. 


great Shark, Carcharodon megalodon 


Ammonites (Aegoceras) capricornus . 


1934. Shell of the Pearly Nautilus 


194. 


198. 


199: 


Divided shell of the Pearly Nautilus 


. The shell of Ancyloceras matheronianum 
. Belemnites hastatus, from the Oxford Clay (Jurassic) 


. Restored drawing of the animal in which the 


‘** Belemnite ’’ is formed . 
Loligo media, a cuttle-fish or squid now living in 
British seas 


Lingula (Lingulella) davisit, of the natural size, 
embedded in the slaty rock of Port Madoc, North 
Wales. ‘ ‘ ‘ : : : ; 


. One of the most ancient Trilobites known (Cono- 


coryphe lyellc) 


. Drawing of Triarthrus becki 
. The Desert Scorpion (Buthus australis) 


. Drawing of the remains of a Scorpion (Palewophonus 


huntert) 


. Completed drawing of the Scotch Silurian Scorpion 


(Paleophonus hunteri) 


. Completed drawing of the Silurian Scorpion of 


Gothland (Paleophonus nuncius) 
XXli 


BIG: 
206. 


207. 


208. 


209. 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


View of the anterior part of a recent Scorpion from 
below 


View from below of the anterior part of the great 
Silurian Scorpion-like creature Pterygotus osilien- 
Sis 5 3 : 


Photograph of a restored model of Stylonurus 
lacoanus) 


Eurypterus fischeri, a marine Scorpion-like animal 
from the Silurian rocks of Rootzikul 


. Dorsal view of the King-Crab (Limulus polyphemus, 


Linnzeus), one-fourth the size of nature. 


. Diagram of the dorsal surface of a King-Crab 


2. Diagram of the ventral surface of the same King- 


Crab 


. Dorsal view of the eighteen segments and post-anal 


spine or sting 


. Slab containing Pentacrinus hemeri 


. Photograph of a block of Limestone of the Car- 


boniferous, showing several kinds of stone-lilies 
or Encrinites . 


. Encrinus fossilis, of Blamenbach, the original 


‘“* Stone-lily.”’ . 


. The living British Encrinite, the minute young of 


the Feather Star-fish (Comatula or Antedon), 


. Drawing by Mr. Berjeau from an actual specimen 


of the Feather Star-fish (Comatula or Antedon 
TOSaCeQ) . : : 


XXiil 


PAGE 


279 


bo 
Ne) 
bo 


a 


CHER i 


ANIMALS WHICH HAVE LATELY BECOME EX- 
SEN Ci TEE STRATA OF THE EARTH'S 
CRUST 


XTINCT animals are animals which no 

longer exist in a living state. Of course 

a vast number of individual animals, and men 

too, become extinguished, or extinct, in the 

course of every year, every month and every 
day. 

But the extinct animals of which I wish to 
speak in these lectures are extinct kinds of 
animals, kinds of animals which no longer exist 
on the surface of the globe in a living state, 
although once they flourished and held their 
own. 

We know of some of them by tradition. The 
records of men of past ages who have seen some 
animals, now extinct, and have written about 
them, and even drawn them, have by human 
care been passed on to the present day. We 

I B 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


know of other extinct animals by finding their 
bones buried in the ground, some quite near 
the surface, others deeper in the rocks, far down 
in the depths of the earth. Such bones may 
be dug out. There is a sample of such bones 


Fic. 1.—A number of bones of extinct animals embedded in 
rock, from Pikermi near Athens. Photographed from a 
specimen in the Natural History Museum. 


found buried in the earth, photographed as our 

first illustration (Fig. 1). Many of these bones have 

been so big, so huge, that they have led to the 

notion of the existence of giants in former days, 

it not having occurred, apparently, to those who 
2 


GREAT AGE OF THEIR REMAINS 


found them, that they were the bones of 
extinct animals and not of a great race of men. 

The indications given by buried remains of a 
condition of the world which has passed away, 
as, for instance, in the great buried town of 
Pompeii, and some of the buried cities of Egypt, 
excite, when they are dug up, the greatest 
interest. From the records still preserved to 
us, we try to find out what was the meaning 
of the particular objects found, what were the 
nature and the life of the men to whom they 
belonged. The same kind of interest belongs 
to the remains of extinct animals that we dig 
up, only that many of them are far older than 
any remains of man ever found. We speak of 
the remains of an ancient Egyptian city as being 
some thousands of years old; but the remains 
of many animals to which I shall have to refer 
in these lectures have to be estimated, not by 
thousands of years, but by millions of years ; 
so many years in fact that no numbers with 
which we are familiar will suffice to bring the 
facts to the minds of my readers. 

Far down in the depths of the earth we find 
the remains, in a well-preserved condition, of 
the bones and teeth of such animals; we are 


3 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


able to tell what kind of animals they were, 
where they lived, what they fed upon, how they 
moved, and, in fact, their whole general appear- 
ance. 

It is urged by some educationists—I myself 
do not agree with them—that we should present 
knowledge to young people in a logical order ; 
and that before talking to young or uninstructed 
people about extinct animals you ought to ad- 
minister to them a complete course of instruc- 
tion concerning living animals; that beginners 
must learn the nature of the structure of 
living animals, and must study the geography 
and history of the crust of the ground in which 
the remains of extinct animals are found, before 
they can look with any intelligence on extinct 
animals. That is an opinion which exists. But 
I do not believe in such a method. The logical 
method of instruction or study is in my judg- 
ment a mistaken one. The whole art of educa- 
tion consists in exciting the desire to know. By 
showing something wonderful, mysterious, as- 
tonishing and marvellous, dug from the earth 
beneath our feet we may awaken the desire to 
understand and learn more about that thing. 
The strangeness of the bones and teeth of 

4 


A FASCINATING SKULL 


extinct animals will lead a boy or girl on to learn- 
ing about the bones and teeth of living animals in 
order to make a comparison, and thus to learn- 
ing more concerning the strange remains dug 
up. I believe that is usually the case. It 
certainly was the case with myself. When I 
was very young, younger than, or as young as 
any of my readers, I used to be taken by a very 
kind lady, my governess, to the Natural History 
Museum of the day, which was then in a remote 
part of London called Bloomsbury, whence it has 
been removed to Cromwell Road, Kensington. 
I was absolutely fascinated as a child with the 
remains I saw of strange extinct animals. And 
it is my hope that the boys and girls who read 
these pages may share some of this interest and 
fascination, and that they will pass from these 
lectures to see the actual specimens which are 
placed on view at the Natural History Museum. 
These lectures are indeed little more than a 
sort of invitation to you all to go and see the 
real things at Cromwell Road, of which I can 
only show you photographs in this book. I will 
now show you a portrait of a creature which 
has always fascinated me with its stony 
stare. It is the head of an Ichthyosaurus dug 


oO 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


out of the rock in the South of England, at 
Lyme Regis, many years ago (Fig. 2). The 
eye is peculiarly well preserved. The circle of 
bony plates, similar to those found in the eyes 
of birds, give an expression of interest which 
few fossils can boast of. It was dug out of the 
rocks by a wonderful lady, Miss Anning, who 
at the beginning of the last century secured a 


Fic. 2.—Head of an Ichthyosaurus, from the Liassic rocks of 
Lyme Regis. Photographed from the original specimen 
in the Natural History Museum. The head is three feet 
six inches long. 


great number of such remains in the cliffs on 
the sea-shore. For many years the front part 
of this specimen was missing, but eventually 
it was found and dug out of the rocks. I shall 
have more to say later about creatures of this 
kind, 

Another creature which fascinated me is 
shown here as it is exhibited in the East court 

6 


THE GIANT SLOTH 


Fic. 3.—The skeleton of the Megatherium found in the alluvial 
sands of the Argentine Republic, South America. Photo- 
graphed from the cast in the Natural History Museum. 
The skeleton stands fourteen feet high. 


7 


‘(uMosN YS oy} Jo sooysnay, oy Aq yuoyT st ons 
sty) ‘oof ouru [rez oy} OF yous oY} WLOAT yj3ue'T += “BoLoUlyYyNog ‘oulpUOS.1y 
oy} UIO1J—UOpOoxO 


[, OYJ —[VULLUe O¥I[-7B4 YOUTZXO OLYUBDIS B JO UOYI[OYS OUL—F “OW 


iw 


A LONDON RHINOCEROS 


of the Museum (Fig. 3). It is similar in 
structure and nature to the sloth. But instead 
of living on a tree it stood on the ground, and 
pulled the tree down to it, in order to feed on 
the young branches. The skeletons of a great 
many of these huge sloths have been found in 
the gravel of South America. 

Another strange great creature is revealed to us 
by this skeleton (Fig. 4), like a huge guinea pig 
with tremendous chisel-like teeth in front. It 
also is found in South America. This is the 
Toxodon. 

The next picture (Fig. 5) I have here shows 
the skulls of two rhinoceroses. The lower one 
is the skull of an African rhinoceros, a living 
beast known as the square-mouthed or white 
rhinoceros—called white apparently, not because 
he is black, but in spite of the fact that he is 
black. As a matter of fact he sometimes has a 
number of white patches. But it suffices to 
know him as the square-mouthed rhinoceros. 

The upper specimen is the skull and lower 
jaw of a rhinoceros, dug up last year in the 
City of London in Whitefriars, under the 
office of the well-known newspaper the Daily 
Chronicle. Digging in the mud and clay there, 

S 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


the workmen came upon this rhinoceros skull. 
Many such have been found in English river 


Fic. 5.—Photographs of two skulls of Rhinoceroses in the 
Natural History Museum. The upper one was dug out 
of the Thames clay in Whitefriars, London, and is that 
of the species known as Rhinoceros antiquitatis. The 
lower one is that of the living African square-mouthed 
Rhinoceros (R. stmus), which is more like the fossil one 
than is any other living rhinoceros. 


gravels, and we know accordingly that such 
animals used to exist on the banks of the 
10 


Fic. 6.—From a cast in the Natural History Museum. Photo- 
graph of the thigh-bone of the great extinct reptile, 
Atlantosaurus, from the Jurassic rocks of the United 
States of America. The thigh-bone is six feet in length : 
that of a very big elephant is barely four feet. 

el 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


Thames many thousands of years ago. That 
specimen also is in the Natural History Museum. 

Here (Fig. 6) you have a thigh bone; you 
can see how enormous it is from the figure of 
the full-grown man beside it. That is the 
thigh bone of a huge kind of reptile, bigger 
than the ordinary elephant, or the biggest 
African elephant, without counting the rep- 
tile’s tail, Such remains have been found 
in England; but the largest have been found 
in the United States. 

These are just a few samples of the remains 
of extinct animals, and indicate the kind of 
creatures I want to tell you about. Of course 
I cannot in these pages refer to all the many 
thousands of kinds of extinct animals which are 
known ; I can only hope to show you pictures 
of a few samples of these things, which, how- 
ever, I hope will suffice to induce you to look 
further into the matter, to look at the real 
specimens, and to read more elaborate books, 
and thus come to feel the same interest and 
pleasure in examining them that I do myself. 

The world upon the surface of which we live 
has been for millions of years always changing. 
Nothing is to-day as it was even one hundred 

12 


INCESSANT CHANGES 


years ago. A thousand years brings about 
enormous changes, quite a different state of 
things in fact. There are now cities where 
forests were growing. Animals which existed a 
thousand years ago have altogether gone. And 
this history of change has been going on, not 
merely for a thousand years, but for hundreds 
and thousands and millions of years. The 
changes have been incessant, and have been 
very great. 

The difficulty in this study of extinct animals 
and in the geology connected with it is to think 
of long enough lapses of time. If you look at 
that clock you cannot see the hand moving, 
and yet it is moving. And thus even in a 
human lifetime you will hardly notice any 
difference in the rivers and the sea-shore and 
the cliffs. But if you range over a long enough 
time, say a thousand years or several thousands 
of years, and compare the condition which 
existed a thousand years ago with what exists 
to-day you will be able to observe great change. 
The difficulty is to realize this change, for it 
comes about too slowly for our short lives to give 
us any real definite experience of it, just as we 
fail to see the hands of the clock moving when 


13 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


we glance at them for a second. Throughout 
these lectures I want you always to bear that 
in mind. 

We know of animals even now which are 
becoming extinct. In this country we have 


Fic. 7.—The Common Grey Wolf (Canis lwpus) of Europe, once 
common in England, but now extinct there. 


historical records of animals that have become 
extinct. I will show you one which used to 
exist in this country. 
This creature, the grey wolf (Fig. 7), existed 
14 


THE BEAVER 


‘umMosnyy ATOISTET [RANQVN oY ULOTZ ¢ 


£1 N GION 


IOABI_ 94} JO Uoutloods pozUNnOW vB Jo YdeaIsojoyq—'s “YI 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


in England till the time of Henry VIII., at the 
end of the fifteenth century, and 150 years 
later in Scotland and Ireland. But it was 
entirely exterminated by human beings, on 
account of its rapacious and dangerous habits. 
Though it is extinct in England, it still exists in 
France, Spain, Germany and Russia. 

Here is another animal (Fig. 8), the beaver, 
which used to exist in England, and was found 
as late as the sixteenth century in Wales. It 
still exists in France, on the banks of the 
streams at the mouth of the river Rhone ; also 
in Russia and Scandinavia. In America, in 
Canada, beavers are still more abundant. 

Another creature which, records tell us, 
existed all over Europe, and which has ceased 
to exist, is the great bull or Urus of Julius 
Caesar (Fig. 9). He mentions it as existing 
wild in different parts of Europe, and says it 
was nearly as big as an elephant. Well, no 
such great wild ox now exists in Europe. The 
last was killed near Warsaw in 1627. All we 
have now are the breeds derived partly from 
this, partly from other kinds of bulls, which, 
are quite changed in their general appear- 
ance. Some of the more or less wild cattle 

16 


THE GREAT BULL OF CASAR 


in different parts of England, for instance those 
on Lord Tanqueray’s and the Duke of Hamil- 
ton’s estates, are supposed by some persons to be 
the remains of this race of wild oxen. But 
this is probably a mistake. They are really 


Fic. 9.—Skull of the great extinct Bull, the Bos primigenius, 
or the Urus, or Aurochs. The measurement from one horn- 
tip to the other taken round the curves, was in some 
cases eight feet. The Urus stood in rare instances as 
much as seven feet at the shoulder ; a fair-sized Elephant 
stands nine feet. 

the remains of cattle introduced by the Romans, 

and have run wild. They are not the Urus of 

Julius Caesar, which was a good deal bigger 

than the largest domesticated cattle, even bigger 

than the white oxen of Umbria. 
This (Fig. 10) is another animal which has 
7, Cc 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


become extinct. But it is not a zebra, as no 
doubt some of you thought it must be. This 
is the quagga, which differs from the zebra in 
being striped in front only. The quagga lived 


£ edie at ss Casts = 


Fie. 10.—Photograph of the living Quagga (Hquus quagga) 
in the gardens of the Zoological Society in 1875, now 
extinct. 


in South Africa, and was quite common there 

until forty years ago. This photograph was 

taken from a specimen which lived in the 
18 


THE ZEBRA 


Zoological Gardens some twenty-five years ago. 


Fic. 11.—Photograph of a living Zebra (Equus burchelli). 


Its stuffed skin is preserved in the Natural 
History “Museum. This creature has now en- 
19 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


tirely ceased to exist, owing to the fact that the 
country over which it ranged has been taken 
up and cultivated by white men. There are no 
more living quaggas anywhere. This animal 
has become extinguished in our own lifetime. 
Zebras (Fig. 11), however, are still common 
enough in Africa, with their beautiful stripings 
on the head, and on the fore as well as on the 
hind regions of the body and legs. 

Here is an animal which, it is feared, is 
becoming extinct—the giraffe (Fig. 12). In 
South Africa it has become extinct already. 
But sportsmen now seek it in Equatorial Africa. 
It is still existing in great numbers in that region, 
and we hope now will be properly protected 
by Government. Two new and well-mounted 
specimens have recently been put in the Natural 
History Museum. The neck of the giraffe is 
often represented as growing up from the body 
with a graceful curve, as is seen in the neck of 
the swan. But the true position of the neck is 
as you see here (Fig. 12). The specimens in the 
Natural History Museum shows this properly. 

This is a picture (Fig. 13) of a curious creature, 
an animal known as the sea-cow, found in the 
Aleutian Islands, between North America and 


20 


THE GIRAFFE 


Asia. It was discovered by the traveller- 


Fic. 12.—Photograph of two giraffes from life, showing 
the natural carriage of the head and neck. 
naturalist Steller in the eighteenth century. 
It was no sooner found than sailors went to the 


21 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


islands where it existed, knocked it on the head 
and ate it, and in about ten years it ceased to 


Fic. 13.—Steller’s drawing of the Sea-cow discovered by him, 
and called Rhytina Stelleri. The animal was twenty feet 
long. 


exist. This picture is from Steller’s drawing. 
It is an enormous creature, some twenty feet 


Fic. 14.—Photograph of a skull of Steller’s Sea-cow, from 
a specimen in the Natural History Museum. 


long, and in shape something like a seal. But 
it is not in reality a seal or a whale, but belongs 
22 


THE GREAT AUK 


to a peculiar group of vegetable-feeding marine 
animals, the Sirenians. It has a small head, 
flipper-like fins, no hind limbs, and a fish-like 
tail. 


Fic. 15.—The Great Auk or Gare-fowl (Aica ampennis). Photo- 
graphed with its egg, from the specimens in the Natural 
History Museum. 

The skull of the same animal is shown in Fig. 

14. It has no teeth, but instead bony plates. 

This is the picture of a celebrated animal 

(Fig. 15)—for you must understand that birds are 

animals. You will have been handed a list of the 

groups of animals (see the end of this chapter). 


9 
2 eo) 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


T shall not have space to explain it at any length, 
but it gives the division of animals into groups 
and their relation one to another. It shows 
how they are classified, so that I need not refer 
to the classification again. 

This picture (Fig. 15) is the portrait of an 
interesting bird, the Great Auk. It is only 
about 23 feet high. It is like the penguin 
in appearance, but it is really related to the puffin 
and albatross. Fig. 154 shews the egg, which 
from time to time in the newspapers, we 
read of as being sold to enthusiastic egg- 
collectors for as much as £300. Nearly a 
hundred specimens of the egg of this bird are 
known, for it only became absolutely extinct 
some sixty years ago. It used to be found on 
the rocky islands off the North of Scotland, 
Shetland, Iceland and Greenland. But it has 
now absolutely ceased to exist. It is very 
difficult to say why it died out, for it had not 
been hunted down. Since it has become extinct 
we have been able to get to know about it by 
finding its skeleton buried in sand and guano 
in certain places on the coast of Newfoundland. 

Here (Fig. 16) is another creature, the dodo, 
a bird which, like Steller’s sea-cow, became 

24 


AUK 


GREAT 


OF THE 


GG 


E 


oy} UL uouTToeds 


wor poydeisojyoyg 


‘umnosnyy AdoystFT Tengen 


‘OZIS [VINZVU OYY JO SyNW yeoIH 9Yy JO SsnJ—‘ve]| ‘pILT 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


extinct almost as soon as it became known. It 
was found in the island of Mauritius by the 
earlier explorers, first the Portuguese and then 
the Dutch. The bird was incapable of flying, 


Fic. 16.—Reproduction of a picture of the Dodo, painted by 
Roland Savery from life, in 1626. The bird was about 
three feet long from beak to tail. 


as it was too fat for its little wings to lift it from 

the ground. It was knocked on the head by 

the sailors and worried by the pigs they intro- 

duced, and was soon exterminated. About the 

beginning of the seventeenth century, between 
26 


THE DODO 


1610 and 1620, specimens were brought alive 
to Europe and were exhibited as a show. We 
once possessed at Oxford a stuffed specimen, 
secured by that ingenious and worthy gentleman 


Fic. 17.—A nearly complete skeleton of the Dodo, put together 
from bones collected by Mr. George Clark in a marshy 
pool in Mauritius. In front is seen the dried foot of a 
specimen which was brought alive to Europe about the 
year 1600. The foot andjthe skeleton are in the Natural 


History Museum. 
Mr. Elias Ashmole, who gave his collections to 
the university 250 years ago. But asit became 
mouldy and eaten by insects, it was ordered, a 
hundred years ago, by the Vice-Chancellor and 


27 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


Proctors of the University of Oxford, that the 
specimen of the dodo should be destroyed. They 
do not like mouldy things at Oxford. But the 
curator cut off the head and one foot, and kept 
them. This head and foot, together with another 
foot in London, anda skull in Copenhagen, are 
about all we have left of dodos seen in the living 
state by Europeans. But since the dodo _be- 
came extinct, by digging in the mud of a lake 
in Mauritius skeletons and bones of it have 
been found (Fig. 17). 

This (Fig. 18) is another interesting creature, 
whose kind is on the way to extinction. It 
is probably the oldest living terrestrial animal. 
It was brought from the Seychelles, where its 
kind is rapidly becoming extinct. In different 
oceanic islands such tortoises have been found 
of large size. This specimen was brought in 
1764 to the island of Mauritius, and is still alive 
there. Thus it has been 140 years in captivity 
in the Court House Garden, in the Mauritius ; 
and how old it was when brought there it is 
impossible to say. 

A question of great interest is—** What 
makes animals become extinct ?”’ It is obvious 
in many cases that another animal, Man, inter- 

28 


WHY DO ANIMALS BECOME EXTINCT? 


feres. He either kills and eats animals, or takes 
their food from them, or occupies their ground, 
or cuts down the forests in which they live, and 
so on. But before man appeared on the scene 
there were changes going on, and different 


Fie. 18.—The living Giant Tortoise of the Court House, 
Mauritius, more than 150 years old. 


kinds of animals succeeded one another. We 

know this by finding the remains of different 

animals at different depths in the crust of the 

earth, in the different strata which have suc- 

ceeded one another. The cause of these 

changes, the cause of the extinction of animals, 
29 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


is a very elaborate and difficult question, and 
one which I do not propose to deal with at any 
length. It is connected, of course, with the 
whole doctrine of the origin of the different 
kinds of animals. We all recognize now that 
there has been a gradual development of the 
different forms of animals by natural birth, 
from ancestral forms more or less like themselves. 
But the more remote we get from the present 
day, in the line of descent, the less like are the 
ancestors to the present form. The original 
parental forms have given rise to very different 
branches of “descent. The descendants of one 
ancestral form‘ have branched out in different 
directions: just in the same way as some 
person named Smith at the time of the Con- 
queror has ‘given rise to all sorts of Smiths. 
Some of them perhaps are still actually metal- 
workers, others have become Ministers of State 
and Right Honourable judges; others have 
great possessions; but they can all be traced 
back to the one original Smith. So many living 
animals of various appearance and form can be 
traced back to one ancient ancestral form, and 
these again to other more primitive ancestral 
forms. 


CHANGES OF LAND AND WATER 


The reason why the ancestral forms died 
out is really connected with the general change 
in the surface of the earth. New forms have 
gradually taken the place of the old forms—for 
no piece of land remains the same for many 
years. A thousand years, as I have said, in 
this matter is merely nothing, but even in a 
thousand years we get great changes in the 
surface of the land. Land may rise far above 
the sea, and what was an island become part of 
a continent. And what was part of a continent 
may partly sink, and become an island—that is, 
the connexion between it and the continent may 
become covered with water; and then the 
conditions of life for the animals are very much 
changed. Such currents as the Gulf Stream 
are affected by this alteration in land and 
water. Were certain changes to take place, 
the warm water of the Gulf Stream would no 
longer warm certain land; the climate would 
become colder than the animals have been 
accustomed to. The animals that could not 
stand the cold would die out, whilst those that 
could stand the cold would flourish.t All I 

+ A fish—the Tile-fish—living in the Atlantic, near the 
North American coast, was destroyed in this way a few 


31 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


would say is that changes in the disposition of 
land and water have been a great cause in 
changing the forms of animals and in bringing 
about the extinction of one set and the flourish- 
ing of another set. That this rising and sink- 


Fria. 19.—The ruins of the ancient Roman Sanne buildings 
at Puzzuoli (Puteoli) near Naples. The three celebrated 
columns are seen on the left. 


ing of the surface of the land really takes place 
I will try now to give you evidence. 

Here (Fig. 19) is the photograph of the 
Temple at Puzzuoli, near Naples, on the shore 


years ago by millions. It was feared it might have become 
extinct, but the cold current having again changed, its 
numbers have increased once more. 


Lr. 
Of 


THE ROMAN REMAINS AT PUZZUOLI 


—___ 


Fic. 20.—One of the three columns of the “‘ temple” at 
Puzzuoli showing (a) the portion eaten into by boring 
marine clam-shells, (6) the upper part, which was not 
submerged, and (c) part which was probably covered up 
by sea-sand and mud during submersion. 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


of the Gulf of Naples. This has been celebrated 
for something like eighty years, ever since Mr. 
Babbage carefully examined and described it, 
and thus caused it to be largely visited by 
geologists. In common with most geologists, 
I have had the pleasure of visiting it. The 
three standing columns have marks of dis- 
coloration up to a certain height. The lower 
part, as shown in the diagram (Fig. 20), is 
full of little holes in which tiny sea creatures 
have burrowed holes in which there are small 
shells. This is so defined that it is certain these 
columns have stood in sea water up to that 
line. The evidence of that is quite complete. 
These columns formed part of a Temple or 
public palace in the great Roman town of 
Puteoli, which had in front of it a Roman road 
along by the sea-shore. Between the temple 
and the sea was the road. Now in Roman 
times that temple stood complete and very 
much in the same position relatively to the sea- 
level that it does to-day, but rather higher up. 
Mr. Giinther, of Oxford, examining the shore- 
line carefully, has found covered over by the 
sea the remains of the Roman road, and the 
remains of great blocks to which ships were 
34 


THE ROMAN TOWN PUTEOLI 


moored when they brought their wares to the 
town of Puteoli. I have here made a drawing 
of the town and the great public palace as it 
must have appeared in Roman times (Fig. 21). 
In the distance is the island of Nicida; in the 
foreground we have the palace and the town, the 


7 


Fie. 21.—Puzzuoli or Puteoli in the time of the Roman Empire 
(third century). The dock and public buildings are repre- 
sented. 


quay and harbour. Things existed thus in the 
days of the Roman empire, in the third century 
of our era. Then earthquakes occurred, the 
columns were broken, the city sank beneath the 
sea. Wehave no written history of this town. 
But it is known that in the Middle Ages, in the 


39 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


eighth or ninth century, the whole of the coast 
of this part of Italy had sunk many feet, and 
the columns were broken and standing in the sea. 
This is the appearance then presented by Puteoli 
(Fig. 22). The coast had sunk; the remains 


of the road were covered by sea, and also the 


Fig. 22.—Puzzuoli in the ninth century, showing the sub- 
mergence of the land and the columns of the ruined 
temple or palace standing up in the sea. 


remains of the columns up to the height marked 
a on the diagram (Fig. 20). The whole land 
must have sunk as much as torty feet, 
since the temple or palace stood on high ground 
originally. Then it was that, while they were 
under water in the ninth century, the columns 
6 


iS) 


THE MODERN PUZZUOLI 


were bored into by sea-shells. Now some more 
centuries have elapsed; the ground has risen 
again until we have the condition shown in the 
photograph (Fig. 23), which gives a general 
view of the same region as that drawn by the 
use of the imagination in Figs. 21 and 22. The 


Fic. 23.—Photograph of Puzzuoli at the present day showing 
the three columns of the so-called temple of Serapis, as 
now seen after the retreat of the sea due to the re-elevation 
of the land. 


land rose again from the water. But the sea 
left its mark on the columns, showing exactly 
how deeply they were merged in the intervening 
centuries. 

This is considered one of the clearest and 
most direct proofs of the changes which take 


ays 
D4 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


place in the level of the ground. The change 
need not be a continuous or a rapid one. It 
took some two or three centuries for that temple 
to sink into the water, and a few more centuries 
for it to come out again. 

Such movement is always going on. It does 
not occur very obviously on our own coast. It 
can be seen to some extent on the Devonshire 
coast at Plymouth. You get evidence of it in 
what are called raised beaches above the level 
of the ocean. In Norway this kind of thing is 
very obvious. In South America it is going on, 
and has been going on at an enormous rate for 
the last thousand years. Probably a great 
part of the height of the Andes has been acquired 
within the last few thousand years by rapid 
rising. When the original sailors landed on 
the coast of Chili in the sixteenth century or 
thereabouts they are said in one spot to have 
chiselled on the rocks an inscription. Here 
you see an imaginary sketch of them doing so 
(Fig. 24). It is said, but I cannot find any 
accurate record of it, that such inscriptions have 
been discovered now, raised high up on the cliff 
(see Fig. 25). We know that many kinds of sea- 
shells are found 200 and 300 feet up the cliffs 
38 


“ 


THE COAST OF CHILI 


in this part of the world. According to the 
observations that have been made, the original 
inscription which we see the sailors cutting in 
Fig. 24 would, after 300 years, be found high 
and dry some 150 feet up the face of the cliffs. 
On the coast of South America there is good 


Fic. 24.—Imaginary view of Spanish sailors carving an 
inscription on rocks at sea-level in 1600 a.p., on the 
Chilian coast. 


reason for believing that a movement upwards 
goes on at the rate of half a foot to a foot a year. 
If such a rising continued for a thousand years 
we should find that the original shore-line had 
risen 500 feet above the sea-level. 

39 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


What, then, is the general result of such move- 
ment? I will show you what would be the 
result of elevating the shore of England (the 
whole of this part of the world) 600 feet. 
From this map (Fig. 26) you will see that if the 


Fic. 25.—The same rocks as they would appear in 1900, raised 
150 feet above the sea-level by an imperceptible movement 
of six inches a year. 


floor of the ocean were raised 600 feet, the 

cross-shaded area would become dry land, and 

we should be brought by land into contact with 

the neighbouring continent and islands. And 

if the land were raised 3,000 feet we 

should have a still greater extension of dry 
40 


ny 
Jerbishire & Slantfora, lo ine Usford Geog Institut 


Fic. 26.—Map to show the effect of elevation of the earth’s 
surface on the distribution of land and water in Western 
Europe. The dowbly-cross-shaded area shows what would 
become dry land if the sea-bottom were raised 600 feet. 
The Channel, the German Ocean, the Baltic and the Irish 
Sea, cease to exist. The smaller dotted area would become 
dry land if the sea-bottom rose another 2,400 feet. Men 
could then walk from Scotland to Iceland by way of the 
Shetlands and Faroe Islands. Most noticeable is the great 
change which would be brought about by the comparative- 
ly small rise of 600 feet, and the much greater elevation 
required to change any further the contour of the land. 


41 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


land. Even the smaller change would make Eng- 
land part of the Continent of Europe. 

The study of extinct animals found in the 
various strata of the earth enables one to 
arrive at a notion of the distribution of land 
and water in past time. Here is an arrange- 
ment of land and water which we are able 
to conclude must have existed in Europe in 
what is called the Middle Tertiary period (Fig. 
27). All this darker part is the sea, and the 
pale part land: in fact, the distribution is 
quite different from what it is at the present 
time. The whole surface of the earth has 
been shifting and changing all through time. 
During the millions and millions of years of 
past ages, different seas have arisen, different 
continents, different dry land and different 
animals,—changed by the various influences of 
the land and climate. And all this movement 
is accomplished by the slow cracking and ‘‘ curl- 
ing” of the earth’s crust, by the continual wash- 
ing of the surface of the land by rain and rivers, 
by the eating away of the edge of the land by the 
waves of the sea. This “eating away” of the 
land by the sea—quite apart from any sinking 
of the land-level—has caused and is yearly 

42 


ANCIENT LANDS AND SEAS 


causing great loss of land on the east coast of 
England, especially in Suffolk, where the great 
city of Dunwich has been swallowed up by the 
sea. In other parts the sea throws up sand and 


iN 


¢ 


; 


AU 
Al 


q 


Fic. 27.—The real test of Geology: anattempt to determine 
the distribution of land and water in past ages. The 
period here shown is the Oligocene or Middle Tertiary, the 
area is that of our present Europe. The sea is shaded, 
the land areas are left white. Central and Southern 
Europe was a sea, with a few large isiands in it. North 
Europe formed a continent including the British Islands 
and Iceland. (After Lapparent.) 


adds miles of new land to the coast. The 

immense quantity of stuff which is carried off 

the surface by rains and rivers is difficult at 

first to imagine. Taking the river Thames at 

Kingston, it is found that something like 500,000 
43 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


tons of solid salts of lime in solution is 
carried every year past that spot. Now a 
cubic block of limestone measuring a yard in 
each dimension weighs about two tons. Accord- 
ingly, 250 thousand solid cubic yards of 
rock are carried past Kingston every year 
by this little river! Enough to build a new 
St. Paul’s Cathedral every year! Think, then, 
what must be the enormous quantities of solid 
matter dissolved and carried away by such 
rivers as the Mississippi and the Amazon. And 
remember that in addition to this dissolved lime- 
stone there is almost as large a bulk of fine sand 
and mud carried along by most rivers! What 
becomes of it? It is deposited in layers, and 
forms what we call stratified rock. You see it, 
some of it, on the seashore when the tide goes 
back, in the form of layers of sand, but most of 
it is deposited far out in the deep bottom of the 
sea—the lime being taken out of solution by 
shell-making plants and animals. But where the 
land is rising, the sand or ground which is ex- 
posed when the tide goes back, would after afew 
years have been raised away from the sea and 
become hard rock. Layer after layer is imposed. 
and raised from the sea bottom. Without 
44 


STRATIFIED DEPOSITS 


going into detail we may accept as a fact 
that this formation of layers by stuff 
brought down from the land by rivers and 
washed from the coast-line by the sea waves 
gives rise to what are called “ stratified de- 
posits.” I will now show you some pictures of 
this stratification. Here (Fig. 28) are shells 


a. 


— ra <= i = 5 - ~- = = y 
Fic. 28.—Photograph of a slab of Bognor rock (Lower 
Eocene) showing embedded marine shells. 


embedded in the Bognor rocks deposited some 
thousand million years ago; there are many 
sorts of shells, whelk-like shells and _ volute 
shells embedded here. 


Whole skeletons of animals are sometimes 
45 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


found in the stratified deposits. This one (Fig. 
29) is from stratified rock which forms the hills 
round Paris, the calcareous rocks of Mont- 
martre. 

Next let us see what fine mud will do in 


Fic. 29.—Skeleton of a tapir-like animal (Paleotherium) as 
found embedded in calcareous rock at Montmartre, Paris. 


preserving the impression of delicate structures, 

such as the wings of insects. Here are the 

wings of a dragon fly (Fig. 30), preserved in very 

ancient stratified rock, the Carboniferous. 

Here (Fig. 31) are the wings of the Pterodactyle 
46 


FOSSILIZED WINGS 


Fre. 30.—Wings of a Dragon-fly preserved in the ancient lime 
stone of the Carboniferous period or Coal-bearing rocks. 


preserved in fine sandy limestone of Oolitic age. 
Here (Fig. 32) we have a jelly-fish preserved ; 


Fic. 31.—Pterodactyle skeleton preserved in Lithographic 
limestone, showing the impression of the membrane of the 
wings. 


47 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


you see its seal stamped as it were on the sand. 
It is many millions of years old, from Oolitic 
rock. 

Now let us look at the layers or the strati- 
fication of rocks. This picture (Fig. 33) shows 
part of the cliff at Lyme Regis, where the 
Ichthyosaurus-head, which I showed you just 


Fic. 32.—A Jelly-fish (similar to the recent Aurelia aurita) 
preserved in Lithographic limestone. 


now, was found. We see the layers of harder 
and softer material lying one over the other. 
The next figure (Fig. 34) shows how the layers 
of the surface of the earth may be bent. With- 
out digging far into the earth you may reach 
a deep layer of stratification or “ stratum ” 
brought near the surface by the general tilting. 
48 


TILTING OF STRATA 


This (Fig. 34) is part of the chalk cliff at Sea- 
ford, showing the strata tilted, so that the 
deeper layers come to the surface. 

Here (Fig. 35) is part of the shore of Lyme 
Regis, showing the strata exposed by the action 


Fig. 33.—Alternate layers of hard and soft rock (‘‘ strata ’’) 
forming the sea-cliff at Lyme Regis. Photographed by 
Messrs. Dollman Bros. 


of the sea. A long series of superimposed 
layers one on top of the otheris seen. They are 
slightly tilted, so that the deeper strata come 
to the surface near the observer. 
The tilting of the strata of the earth’s crust 
49 E 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


is the rule and not the exception. It is rare 
for the strata to lie in a strictly horizontal 
position. The crust of the earth is continually 
being slowly pushed up or down, and as it were 
‘“crumpled”’ or thrown into wave-like folds. 
The cause of this crumpling is to be found in 


graphed by Messrs. Dollman Bros. 


the shrinking of the earth and the movements 
of subterranean steam—causing earthquakes 
and other earth movements. The “crust” of 
the earth is a mere skin. If we bored twenty 
miles into it we should come to immensely hot 


50 


FOLDING AND CRUMPLING OF STRATA 


molten material, and on this the crust is sup- 
ported. It cannot be said to “rest’’ on the 
deeper matter, for it is always, though very, 
very slowly, shifting and crumpling. Con- 
sequently, according to the height and depth of 


Fic. 35.—Strata of the ele at Lyme eee! Photographed 
by Messrs. Dollman Bros. 


the folds of the crust, we find that deeper, even 
very deep-lying strata may be brought to the 
surface, and as the upraised folds get worn away 
by sea and rain and rivers, the deepest layers 
may be exposed on the surface. Thus it is 
that we are able to examine the oldest rocks 


- 


51 


ANIMALS 


EXTINCT 


s of the immensely- 


and to search for the remain 


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plmoys aM ‘uredserp oy} Jo Fruty ety puodoeg our, cures oy} Suole uorye10[dxe Ino 
ponuryUos OM F[ “MOTA 0} 1 ‘ON UWoA Sutsodxe sjuoutdagose ,, 10 ,, SYTO ,, JO UOTy 
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“qsndo S$ 


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SSeS 
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The 


In. 


t creatures which they conta 


anclen 


N 
ite) 


RIPPLE-MARKS AND RAIN-DROPS 


diagram (Fig. 36) will help to make it clear how 
the pushing and crushing of the earth’s crust 
into wave-like folds such as you may see when 
a tablecloth or carpet is not spread flat, results 
in bringing the deep-lying strata to the surface, 
so that we can walk along a cutting or cliff and 
come to deeper and older rocks as we walk along. 

Here (Fig. 37) is a specimen which shows 


Fic. 37.—Ripple-marks preserved in ancient Triassic strata. 


ripple-marks still preserved as we see them 
nowadays on the shore at low tide. The marks 
of raindrops are also often preserved on such 
slabs of rock, which once were soft wet sand. 
On such surfaces we often find footprints, the 
footprints of birds and of reptiles. In some 
cases we do not know the animal itself (Fig. 38), 
33 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


but we see its footprints in the ancient rocks 
now far removed from the sea and covered over 
by thousands of feet of later rocks. Here 
(Fig. 39) are the footprints of a great creature 


Fig. 38.—Bird-like footprints on a slab of Triassic rock 
from Connecticut, U.S.A. 
from the Isle of Wight which has left its impress 
in the sandstone. 
In Fig. 40 we have drawn a slab of Triassic 


Fig. 39.—Three-toed footprint (probably of Iguanodon) from 
the Wealden Sandstone of the Isle of Wight. 


54 


FOOTPRINTS ON ANCIENT SANDS 


rock, showing the five-fingered hand-like foot- 
prints of the Cheirotherium (as it was once 
called), a huge salamander-like animal. 


Fie. 40.—Slab of Triassic rock from Saxony, showing hand- 
like five-fingered footprints, each seven inches long, 
probably due to a Labyrinthodon which walked over this 
substance when it was soft wet sand. These footprints 
occur also in rocks of the same age in Cheshire. 


TABULAR LIST 


OF THE GREAT GROUPS OR BRANCHES OF THE PEDIGREE OF 


LT: 


IIT. 


XI, 


ANIMALS 


VERTEBRATA. (Back-boned Animals.) 
Class 1. MAMMALS. 

BIRDS. 

REPTILES. 

AMPHIBIANS. 

. FISHES. 

6, 7 and 8. Lancelets, Ascidians and 
Acorn-Worms. 

MOLLUSCS. (Mussels, Oysters, Clams, Snails, 
Slugs, Whelks and Cuttle-fish.) 

APPENDICULATES. (Insects, Crabs, Shrimps, 
Spiders, Scorpions, Centipedes, and Annulate 
Worms and Wheel-animalcules. ) 

ECHINODERMS. (NStarfishes, Sea Urchins and 
Sea-Cucumbers. ) 

FLAT WORMS. (Flukes, Tape-Worms, Water- 
flukes, etc.) 

NEMERTINES. (Cord-like Sea-Worms.) 

NEMATODS. (Parasitic Thread-Worms. ) 


ot ge to 


CORAL-POLYPS and SEA-ANEMONES. , 
HYDRA-POLYPS and JELLY FISH. 


SPONGES. 


PROTOZOA. (Microscopic Unicellular Animalcules, 
Amcebex, Gregarines, Flagellates, etc.) 


N.B.—The list does not contain the less important great 
groups, and is purposely made more simple than are the 
tables of classification used in scientific text-books. 


56 


TABULAR LIST 


OF THE CHIEF ORDERS OF THE VERTEBRATE CLASS 


Order 


tm GC bo — 


14 


15 


16 


MAMMALS. 


Primates Man, Apes and Monkeys. 

Insectivors Hedgehogs, Shrews and Moles. 

Chiroptera Bats. 

Carnivors Dogs, Bears, Cats and the extinct 
Creodonts. 

Pinnipedes Seals. 

Ungulates Hoofed Animals: even-toed and 
odd-toed. 

Elephants Elephants and their extinct ances- 
tors. 

Amblypods Dinoceras and Arsinditherium. 

Toxodonts Toxodon. 

Rodents Rats, Rabbits, Beavers and Porcu- 
pines. 

Hyracoids The Syrian and African ‘‘ Coney.” 

Sirenians The Manatee, Dugong and Steller’s 
Sea-Cow. 


Edentates Sloths, Armadilloes, Ant-eaters. 
Cetaceans Whales and Porpoises. 


Marsupials Kangaroos, Opossums, Tasmanian 


Wolf. 


Cloacals The Egg-laying Platypus and 
Echidna of Australia. 


N.B.—The list is not complete 


57 


TABULAR LIST 


OF THE CHIEF ORDERS OF THE VERTEBRATE CLASS 


Order 1 


REPTILES. 
Dinosaurs Huge extinct creatures, often as 
big as elephants. 
Crocodiles Crocodiles and Alligators. 


Chelonians Turtles and Tortoises. 
Lizards \ar Closely allied to one another, and 
- having the epiderm moulded 

Snakes | to form ‘ scales.” 

Pterodacty!ls Extinct: they had great flying 
wings supported by one finger. 

Theromorphs Extinct: often with teeth resem- 
bling those of Mammals. 


Plesiosaurs Extinct: swan-necked aquatic 
forms, with four paddles. 
Ichthyosaurs Extinct: short-necked marine 


forms, closely representing 
among Reptiles, the Whales 
and Porpoises of the Mamma- 
lian series. 


N.B.—This does not profess to be a complete enumeration. 


58 


CHAPTER II 


STRATA AND LAND SURFACES— TEETH AND 
BONES — EXTINCT MEN — FLINT IMPLE- 
MENTS—THE MAMMOTH, ELEPHANTS AND 
MASTODON—CLASSIFICATION OF ANIMALS 


EFORE giving you further accounts of 

extinct animals, I wish to point out to 

you that what I have to say is true, and not 
mere imagination. 

Some people talk about the “fairy tales of 
science.”’ There never was a more inappropriate 
phrase: it is altogether wrong to speak of 
fairy tales having anything to do with science. 
The wonderful things which science reveals to 
us are altogether remote from fairy tales, 
for in regard to the tales of science you can 
test what you are told, you can see the 
things of which I speak, you can ascertain the 
truth of what is asserted. That is the great 
pleasure of this study; one knows that the 
things one examines, however astounding and 

59 


TABLE OF SFRATIFIED ROCKS 


SHOWING APPROXIMATE THICKNESS. 


TOTAL DEPTHS. QUATERNARY YO .EMS TYPICAL a 
DOr RECENT SSS ee MAN, MAMMOTH, MASTODON 
450°" PLEISTOCENE 200 ft == SS THREE TOED HORSE 
1430. — ; =50 GS TETRABELODO 
2850 - purosene all EOCENZ SOO feet _—*&=_ARSINOITHERIUM DINOCERAS 
———— = ANCESTORS OF ELEPHANTS : 
> ——~---CRETACEOUS —~ HORSES & MAMMALS GENERALLY 
Be a Fe em 
53506 nae ~ ~— 2.800 ft ~— LAST ICHTHYOSAURS 
zo 2G 0) 1a) 0) oO) Ol Ol OF.oO) Oo) (oslo bu GREAT DINOSAURS 
SSS a3 ey | OME OO N Oe ORNS Har 
re ZNOIO 1050 .0 (0) (0) 8 010: © Ove |e 
we z$ BuO. ors Oot lomomegoe Er 
1aa5o ae CH oO! Towoolble ©o: OsoN_ol OLOLelig 
' a= a « 
n THEROMORPHS 
‘ace < PARIASAURUS 
14.850 2 
= LAST TRILOSITES 
= 
< 
i 
< 
w 
« 
o 
SCORPIONS 
Ex 
26850 - ae a 
TTT / x 
DEVONIA ny x 
5,000 ft /) = 
wi 
31,850 ~ Gu 
= FIRST FISHES 
= MARINE SCORPION 
re) 
z 
< 
38,850 « = 
< 
e 
a 
=) 
« 
=) 
o 
oO 
o 
20 
3 = 
a 
ae) 
= 
1) 
Ww 
F 
< 
53.850 " : =] & 
BOGS SE0E2S S08 S82 Sea SS0 000808 | i 
GEREBERERERERBS Soe is 
1 || ipo SOD Seeee c 
GS SSP SERRE SS0RR w 
Pa SEBSERSEEGERCRESEEEE > 
— GUBESEEEEOEESa - z 
< rrtTiTTrTiCAMBRIAN[TTTT ITT] 
eB ean 
ERHEERSROR Ft GERREEER 
S PTT Ty yy i2,000 BRRSRRER 
HGEBRs008 GEESHEaR 
BEBESERLaaS 
=! t HOGS 
FIRST TRILOBITES 
65850 


Fig. 41.—A tabular 


view of the strata 
of the earth’s 
crust, showing the 
relative thickness 
of each “‘ system ” 
or group of strata, 
and the position 


in which  impor- 
tant animal re- 
m5659 


mains have been 
discovered. The 
rocks are never 
found lying hori- 
zontally like this, 
which is a diagram. 
In nature they are 
tilted and ecrum- 
pled, but we can 
make out their 
thickness and the 
order in which they 
lie one over the 
other. 


THE SUCCESSION OF STRATIFIED ROCKS 


incredible they seem, really exist, and are not 
mere imagination or fancy. 

I want now to refer to these large diagrams 
(Figs. 41 and 42). Fig. 41 should be carefully 
examined. It represents what has been dis- 
covered with regard to the succession of de- 
posits, those stratified deposits of which I spoke 
in my last lecture. On the left-hand side is 
stated the thickness of each deposit, so far as 
it has been ascertained. 

Most of the extinct animals, all the great 
extinct animals I have to speak about, come 
within the upper part. We have an enormous 
thickness of stratified rock beneath, which 
contains only marine things, fishes, a few 
crustaceans, and things of that kind. But all 
the more interesting great animals have left 
their bones in the higher strata. The upper- 
most layer (the recent and Pleistocene) is only 
some 200 feet in thickness, yet it indicates a 
period of something like 500,000 years. This 
being so, you can judge by the thickness of 
subjacent deposits what an immense lapse of 
time is represented. Before we get to the 
chalk we get down nearly 3,000 feet. The 
thickness of the chalk itself is another 2,500 feet. 

61 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


The estimate thus given probably does not 
fully represent the time which has elapsed. If 
you take a thousand years for each foot, you 
only get an approximate measure of the time 
represented, because a great deal more time has 
passed than is actually shown by the permanent 
deposits or strata. Strata have been broken 
up by the sea and water, and have been deposited 
again and again; and it is probable that a 
much longer time has elapsed than one thousand 
years for each foot of the deposits which form 
the stratified crust of the earth. 

An important general fact, which I cannot 
dwell on further, is that whilst it is true that the 
great animals occur in the later stage of the 
world’s history, there is a gradual succession 
from simpler to more complex forms of life. 
We get fishes at the top of the Silurian; and 
we get in the Carboniferous great amphibians ; 
and the first reptiles in the Permian; and then 
we get birds and crocodiles in the Triassic ; 
and the first hairy warm-blooded quadrupeds 
in the Jurassic. Thus the different kinds of 
animals succeed one another in the order of 
increasing complexity of structure so that the 
highest animals are the latest to appear. 

62 


THE ZOO-GEOGRAPHICAL MAP 


This map of the world (Fig. 42) has special 


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AGE 
Ae 


ae 


interest, for it shows the present position of 


It is meant to show 


different kinds of animals. 


63 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


something of the history of the migrations or 
movements over the surface of the earth of the 
large animals which have lived upon it. The 
line which separates New Zealand from the rest 
of the world, which we call Theriogzea—the 
land of big animals—shows that the large 
islands of New Zealand have no such animals 
upon them. Till man went there some thousand 
years ago there were no large animals. The 
largest animals were great birds. There were no 
cattle, or cats and dogs—not even mice. Thus 
this piece of land seems to be separated from 
the history of the movement of animals in the 
rest of the world. It is an old and detached 
land-surface. Then you will see a second line 
between Australia and the rest of the world. 

Australia is distinguished by its marsupials 
(kangaroos, wombats, phalangers, etc.). The 
young of the marsupials are very small when 
born and are placed by their mother in a pouch 
of skin overlying her teats. Those animals 
which are nourished inside the mother before 
they are born are of a much larger size at birth. 
They are the Placentals, and there are no 
aboriginal Placentals in Australia. 

The greater part of the world (the rest when 

64 


THE ZOOLOGICAL PROVINCES 


Australia is cut off) may be divided into the 
great Holarctic surface, the northern strip 
which comprises North America, Europe and 
the Northern part of Asia, while projecting 
downwards are three other regions, South 
America or the Neo-tropical, the great African 
or Ethiopian region, and the Oriental or Indian 
region. The animals of which fossil remains are 
found in the Holarctic region have migrated 
into these projections of the land which sub- 
sequently became of their present shape, at 
different times in the world’s history. 

The Neo-tropical region of South America. 
was at one time a separate mass of land, and 
upon it lived very peculiar animals, such as the 
great sloths and armadilloes, and strange birds. 

In the Holarctic region we find, either still 
living or buried in recent strata, the great 
hairy mammals, elephants and cattle, antelopes, 
deer, camels, horses, rhinoceroses, tapirs, pigs, 
hippopotami, tigers and lions, and such forms. 
When we dig down only to the depth of a few 
feet, in river gravels and comparatively modern 
deposits, we find all the big creatures in this 
region as shown by their fossilized bones. But, 
owing to some change of climate and other con- 

65 F 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


ditions not very clear, most of them left this 
region and migrated to the southern projecting 
regions. 

One of the most curious results of this emigra- 
tion is that at the present day the tapir is found 
alive in the island of Sumatra and that it is 
found alive also in Central America. At one 
time naturalists were much surprised to find a 
tapir in the new world like the tapir in the old 
world, and nowhere else but in these limited 
spots, remote from each other. But now we 
know that tapirs existed all over the Holarctic 
region, for we find there their fossil remains ; 
we recognize them by the shape of their teeth 
and bones which we dig up. Even in England, 
in Suffolk, we find the tapir in the deposit 
known as the Red Crag, and again in different 
parts of Germany, France and Greece, and even 
in China and in North America, tapirs are found 
buried in the sands of Pliocene and Miocene age. 
The present race of tapirs existing in the East 
Indies and in Central America are as it were 
the outlying survivors of those which existed 
formerly all over the great Holarctic region. 

Such facts as these about the tapir indicate 
the importance of knowing where particular 

66 


HOW TO RECOGNIZE BONES 


fossil animals are found; for thus we are 
enabled to come to some conclusion as to the 
former connexion of different land surfaces of 
the world with one another. 

The question must have occurred to many of 
you,—How do we recognize fragments of bones 
found in the earth? How do I know that a 
fragment I may find is the lower jaw of a 
creature like the horse? or that bones I may 
dig up are the bones of a tapir? How do I 
know that a given skull is that of areptile ? and 
that a given shell was inhabited by a creature 
like the nautilus ? 

We are able to know these and like matters 
because the shape of different parts of each 
kind of animal is very constant. The kinds 
which are like one another in other respects are 
like one another in the details of their bones 
and teeth, even in such minute points as the 
microscopic texture of the bones. An immense 
mass of facts about such things is known, and 
when set out in orderly fashion is termed the 
science of comparative anatomy or animal 
morphography. 

The first photograph I have to show in this 
chapter is of a piece of bone which was sent 

67 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


fifty years ago to Professor Owen by a gentle- 
man in New Zealand who had lately arrived 
there, and who had found it in his garden. 
Professor Owen, on examination, was able 
to say from the general make and structure 
of the bone that it was the bone of a bird. 
It was about seven or eight inches long (Fig. 
43). On examining the ridges and various 


Fic. 43.—Photograph of the original piece (seven inches long) 
of a thigh bone of a gigantic bird, from the examination of 
which Sir Richard Owen inferred the former existence of 
a gigantic flightless bird in New Zealand. The specimen 
is preserved in the Natural History Museum. (Original.) 


marks on the bones, Owen was able, from his 

knowledge of the character of bones, to say that 

it was identical with the middle part—the ends 

were broken off—of the thigh bone of an 
68 


SS  : 

Fic. 44.—Photograph of Sir Richard Owen standing beside 
the restored skeleton of the New Zealand Moa (Dinornis 
maximus). From a memoir by Owen. 


69 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


ostrich. He ventured then to publish that this 
bone was a proof that there existed formerly in | 
New Zealand a huge terrestrial bird like the os- 
trich, only bigger. After a few years, more bones 
were sent to Owen from New Zealand, which 
entirely confirmed what he had said: and in the 
course of a few years he was able to put to- 
gether from the bones sent a skeleton with 
enormous legs and neck, the skeleton of the 
ostrich-like bird the Moa of New Zealand. In 
Fig. 44 you see Professor Owen himself at the 
side of the restored skeleton. Since that time 
a great number of these birds have been found 
buried in the morasses and comparatively 
recent deposits of New Zealand, showing that 
many of them existed alive some five or six 
hundred years ago, and that they were then 
probably hunted out of existence by the an- 
cestors of the present Maoris. I shall have a 
few more words to say about the giant birds of 
New Zealand in a later chapter. 

In Fig. 45 we have the photograph of a very 
fine preparation in the Natural History Museum, 
showing the skeleton of a man and a horse 
side by side. The main object of this com- 
parison is to show that, though so different in 

70 


MAN AND HORSE 


Fic. 45.—Photograph of the skeletons of Man and Horse from a group, pre 
pared under the direction of Sir William Flower for the Natural 
History Museum. 

Sh. Shoulder-bone. W. Wrist-bones (so-called knee of horse’s fore- 
leg). E. Elbow process (olecranon). IK. Knee joint (Stifle of horse). 
P. Hip-bones. TZ. Tail-bones. H. Heel-bone (caleaneum of man), the 
hock of the horse. 


general bearing and form, all the bones of a man 

correspond in detail with those of the horse. 

The thigh bone of the horse and the thigh bone 

of the man, the knee (called the “stifle’’) of the 
71 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


horse and the knee of the man, correspond. The 
man has a short foot, the horse a long one. The 
upstanding bit at the back of the horse’s leg 
called the “ hock” is really the heel, and cor- 
responds to the heel bone which you can dis- 
tinguish in the man’s skeleton. So also the 
fore-arm and shoulder-blade correspond in the 
two skeletons. 

Accordingly, as animals are alike or unlike 
in the details of their structure, so we can 
group them into divisions and sub-divisions (see 
the list of classes at the end of ChapterI). There 
are certain marks by which it is easy to 
recognize fragments of bone, dug it may 
be out of a quarry or railway cutting, and 
to know at once the division or kind of 
animals to which the owner of the fragments 
belonged. I have already alluded to the fact 
that the strata of the earth are revealed to us 
by cliffs on the sea-shore, by exposed rocks and. 
by river banks; and I would add by such 
activities of man as the digging of quarries and 
railway cuttings. Suppose that you find a 
skull in such a digging—there are marks by 
which you can tell whether it belongs to a 
mammal or reptile. 


THE OCCIPITAL CONDYLES 


In Fig. 46 I have photographed the whole 
back part of a skull which contained the brain, 
and you see where the spinal cord entered the 
skull to join the brain. In this creature (an 
ox) there are two bony surfaces (marked Ex, Ex) 


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Fic. 46.—Photograph of the back of a skull of an Ox, to show 
the two occipital condyles, Hx, Ex. 
forming the joints or condyles of the skull by 
which the first neck-bone or vertebra was 
fastened to it whilst allowing a rotating move- 
ment. All mammals’ skulls are provided with 
this pair of knobs or “condyles.” But in the 
crocodile’s skull (Fig. 47) you will see below 


=9 
/o 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


the aperture for the spinal cord only one large 
condyle (marked Bas). From such a fragment 
of the skull then you can at once tell whether 
to place the creature to which it belonged 
among the hairy warm-blooded quadrupeds 


called mammals, or with the reptiles. A bird 


Fic. 47.—Photograph of the back of a Crocodile’s skull to 
show the single occipital condyle Bas, lying below the hole 
or foramen by which the spinal cord enters the skull to 
join the brain. 


is like a reptile in having a single joint or knob 
at the back of the skull. 

As an example of the definite marks by which 
bones can be referred to their proper classes, 
the following is a curious point. Fig. 48 is 
a drawing of the internal ear of man—the soft 

74 


THE SNAIL-LIKE COCHLEA 


part of the ear 


bedded in bone. 


three loop-like canals and a 


snail-like coil. 


mals have that snail-like con- 
struction of the internal ear. 


It consists of 


All hairy mam- 


inside, em- 


In Fig. 49 is photographed the pre. 48 —Drawing of 


ear-bone of a mammal’s skull 
cut through, and you can see 
the place for the snail-like soft 
ear—the cochlea or 
spiral of the ear, as it is called. 
No other animals except the 


Fic. 49.— Photograph 
from a section 
through the bone in 
which the soft inter- 
nal ear is_ lodged, 
showing the coils of 
the snail-shaped 
space in which the 
spiral cochlea lies. 


the auditory organ 
or internal ear of 
man. A the coiled 
tube known as the 
helix or cochlea. 
B the three tubu- 
lar arches or semi- 
circular canals. 


internal 


mammals are 
known to possess a_ spiral 
internal ear, and all known 
If, 
therefore, you discovered a 


mammals do possess it. 


fragment of bone showing 
this spiral-like space you 
would know that the bit of 
bone must in all probability 
belong to a mammal. 

At the beginning of the 
nineteenth century a portion 
skull 
was brought from America 

75 


of a great elongated 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


to Europe, dug out of the sands of Florida. 
It was thought to belong to a reptile like 
the crocodile, and was called Basilosaurus. 
But the naturalist in whose care it was, on 
showing the specimen to a friend (Herman 
von Meyer) dropped it on the stone floor of 
his museum and cracked the back of the 
skull. The crack exposed the spiral cavity or 
cochlea of the ear, and thus it was shown that 
the specimen was the skullof a mammal. Sure 
enough, it turned out later to be the skull of a 
kind of whale (Zeuglodon). 

Teeth are of great help and importance in 
determining the sort of animal to which a 
fragment belongs. 

Fig. 50 is a photograph from a specimen 
prepared in the Natural History Museum. The 
wild boar or pig occupies in regard to teeth a 
sort of central position among mammals (hairy 
warm-blooded quadrupeds). Its teeth are 
such that to them you can refer, as to a standard 
pattern, the teeth of all other mammals. There 
are three middle teeth in front in the upper and 
lower jaw, chisel-like teeth, the incisors. Be- 
yond these are the great canine teeth: then 
the cheek teeth follow. These are seven in 

76 


THEETH- OF THE PIG 


Fria. 50.—Photograph from preparations of the upper and lower 
jaw of a Pig, to show the teeth in position. The bone 
has been cut away so as to show the roots or fangs of the 
teeth. (1, 2, 3) the three upper incisor teeth of the left 
side ; (4) the upper canine tooth of the left side ; (5, 6, 7, 8) 
the four front molars or cheek teeth, called the premolars, 
of the left side of the upper jaw ; (9, 10, 11) the three back 
molars (not preceded by “ first’? teeth) of the left side 
of the upper jaw; (12, 13, 14) the three lower incisor 
teeth of the left side; (15) the canine of the lower jaw, 
left side: note its enormous root; (16, 17, 18, 19) the 
four front molars (premolars) of the left side of the lower 
jaw ; (20, 21, 22) the three back molars (not preceded by 
“first ” teeth) of the left side of the lower jaw. 


HLF 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


number, four in front which are replaced 
—that means that second teeth come to take 
the place of the first—and three hinder ones, 
which are never replaced. If you look at the 
surface of these cheek teeth you will find they 
are broad, with many tubercles, fitted for grind- 
ing great varieties of food. There are seven of 
these cheek teeth on each side in each jaw, 
upper and lower, one canine, and _ three 
incisors, so that eleven on each side in upper 
and in lower jaw or forty-four teeth in all is the 
complete number, the typical number—the 
most characteristic number in the group of 
hairy mammals. Many have less, but among 
the immediate ancestors of those mammals with 
‘reduced dentition ’’ we find a larger number 
of teeth, and in their remote ancestors the com- 
plete typical number is discovered. 

It is important to notice that whereas the 
front teeth have a single fang by which they are 
implanted in the jaw the cheek teeth have two 
fangs, as shown in Fig. 51. Teeth with two 
fangs appear to be peculiar to mammals. Other 
animals have only single farigs to all their teeth, 
as mammals have for their incisors and canines 


(as a rule). 


TEETH 


The human teeth (Fig. 52) are reduced in 
number. There are only two incisors above 


and below on each side; then the small canine 


Ftc. 51.—Photograph of a preparation of the teeth of the upper 
and lower jaw of a Pig. The small teeth between the 
upper and lower row of large teeth are the milk teeth or 
‘first’? teeth which are shed. Note how small the 
predecessors (15 and 23) of the great tusks are, and also 
that the foremost molar (7 and 33) in both upper and 
lower jaw has no successor or predecessor, as is also true 
of the three back molars. 


or dog-teeth, one on each side ; then five cheek 
teeth or ‘“‘ molars,” two smaller and three 
bigger. From a single tooth we could tell 


whether a piece of jaw-bone belonged to a man 
79 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


or not. Though like a monkey’s, a man’s tooth 


can be distinguished from it and from all other 


Fic. 52.—Photograph of a preparation (in the Natural History 
Museum) of the upper and lower jaw-bone of man, the 
bone cut away so as to show the fangs of the teeth. The 
pattern of the crowns of the molars is well seen in the 
upper and lower figures. 


teeth. In the next figures we have photographs 
showing certain modifications in the teeth of 


80 


TEETH OF TIGERS AND OF RATS 


mammals. You see in the Clouded Tiger 
(Fig. 53) that the teeth are few in number, and 
are sharp, for cutting or tearing flesh, whilst the 
canine teeth are very large. 

In Fig. 54 the skull of a great rat, as big asa 
beaver or fair-sized dog, is photographed. The 


Fic. 53.—Skull of the Clouded Tiger, to show the large canine 
teeth and the few but pointed and cutting molars, two 
above and three below. 


front teeth (only one on each side above and 
below) are chisel-like, and very large, to enable 
the rat to gnaw wood. 
In reptiles you no longer get complex cheek 
teeth. All the teeth are peg-like. They have 
SI G 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


no grinding teeth with big surfaces, and all the 
teeth have a single fang (Figs. 55 and 56). 


Fic. 54.—Photograph of the skull of the Coypu Rat, to show 
the greatly enlarged incisor teeth or “ rodent ”’ chisel-like 
teeth in front, the absence of canines, and the flat grinding 
molars behind. The large gap in the row of teeth between 
the incisors and the molars is very characteristic. 


The fossil jaw shown in Fig. 57 came from 


Fic. 55.—Jaws of the Gharial, an Indian Crocodile, to show 
the peg-like teeth. The bone is removed, showing that 
the teeth have only a single fang each. 


Stonesfield in Oxfordshire. It is embedded in 
82 


A FOSSIL JAW FROM STONESFIELD 


hard Jurassic slate, and is one of the most 
ancient evidences of the existence of a mammal. 
The sight of its double fangs at once rendered 
it almost certain that the teeth must be those 


of a mammal: the whole shape of the jaw is 


Fic. 56.—Photograph of the skull and lower jaw of a true 
Crocodile. The numerous peg-like teeth of different sizes, 
firmly implanted in the jaw-bones, are shown. 


like that of a small mammal, such as the hedge- 
hog. 

We must now take up again the general story 
of extinct animals; and to do so we will first of 
all go back, so to speak, a little way into the 
strata deposited on the earth’s surface—just far 

83 


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-nyow st Met oyy, ‘ouoq-ael oyy Jo Ave Suryeorq oyy Aq posodxa YY204 Yyooyo oy} Jo [eteAes JO 
SSuvy o[qnop oy} SMOYS oMSY OY, “pOJXO aBvou OSB (OJI[OD) oIssBIne Jo a4yR[S p[eyseuoyg oy 
woul (~soaaid Uniwaynydup) yeutureut [peuis B jo Mel JaMol oYy JO UOIVkZUeSeIdoa posaepuyf—"LG “O91 YT 


PREHISTORIC REMAINS OF MAN 


enough to take us beyond the range of written 
history or record, which barely reaches further 
than four thousand years. 

Recent explorations in ancient cities, Egypt 
and other parts of the East have brought out 
from layer after layer of rubbish and mud the 
different remains of man, different instru- 
ments, utensils and works of art. As one 
gets deeper one finds remains showing different 
habits and ways of life. But all are practically 
within the historic period. Beyond that we 
come to a period of which there is no tradition 
or written record, but of which we have evi- 
dence only by the remains we find; flint 
instruments, carvings, and even occasionally 
some human bones. The most important of 
the prehistoric remains of man take us back, 
to judge from the position in which they are 
found, some 150,000 years. These are the 
remains, found in river gravels in England and 
France and other countries, proving that man 
lived here in a savage state with the Mammoth, 
the Rhinoceros, Hyena, Cave Lion and Cave 
Bear. 

Fig. 58 shows two flint implements which these 
men manufactured and used. A flint instru- 

85 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


ment of this kind was found more than a hundred 
years ago in the gravel in Gray’s Inn Lane, in 


Fic. 58.—Photographs of two flint implements of the Paleo- 
lithic age, obtained from the gravel-pit at St. Acheuil near 
Amiens, by the author, in 1870. 


London, and was figured and described ; but its 

ereat antiquity was not recognized at that time. 

In the middle of the last century, attention 
86 


PREHISTORIC MAN 


was drawn to these flint instruments found in 
the gravel of the river Somme by a French 
antiquarian, M. Boucher de Perthes. He got 
immense quantities of these worked flints from 
the neighbourhood of Abbeville and Amiens, 
and he maintained they were the work of men. 
They were clearly, from the depth of gravel 
under which they were found, of enormous 
antiquity. The matter was gone into carefully 
at the time; geologists and naturalists took 
keen interest in it, and the great antiquity of 
man in Europe was established. And besides 
these implements in the gravel others have 
been found in caves associated, as in the gravel, 
with the remains of animals which*have long 
ceased to exist in this part of the world. 4 These 
are such mammals as the reindeer, the hairy 
rhinoceros, the great Irish stag, the cave bear, 
the cave hyena and the lion. Huge wild 
cattle, such as the Aurochs or Urus of Caesar, 
and the Bison, existed then in quantity. In 
some places the actual bones and skulls of these 
primitive men have been found with the bones 
of extinct animals. 

The skulls of primitive men and of modern 
men show a certain difference in shape. If we 


o6) 


7 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


take two skulls, that of a man and a monkey 
(Fig. 59), and draw a line from the region just 
over the nose, between the ridges of the brow, 
and run it back to the occipital ridge at the 
back of the skull, there is left above the line a 


Fic. 59.—Photograph of the top of the skull or “ calvaria ” 
of the so-called Monkey-man, Pithecanthropus, discovered 
in Java. On the left is the skull of a Chimpanzee and on 
the right that of a modern man, for comparison. A line 
is drawn from the point between the eyebrows to the 
occipital ridge at the back of the skull, showing how much 
shallower the dome of the skull (the part above the line) 
is in the ape than in the man, and that the Javanese 
skull is nearly as shallow as that of the ape. (Original.) 


great hemispherical dome in the human skull, 
whereas in the monkey the space left above is 
much flatter, much shallower. 
In ariver gravel in Java the imperfect skull 
of the so-called Pithecanthropus, or monkey- 
88 


HUMAN SKULLS 


man, was lately discovered. It is really, in 
its main features, a human skull. A_ photo- 


graph of it is seen in Fig. 59—the middle one 


Fie. 59a.—Photograph of a human skull of modern 
Juropean race. 


of the three figures. It has a shallow upper 

region, much like that of a monkey. Other 

shallow skulls of primitive men have been found 

in caverns, such as those of Spy in Belgium and 
89 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


in the sand of the Neanderthal on the Rhine. It 
seems certain that primitive man had a shal- 
lower brain than the more recent man. But 
some of the prehistoric men seem to have been 
able to draw, and to have exhibited great skill 
in that art. It is difficult to say whether there 
was more than one race present at this time, 
and whether the men of the shallow skulls were 
the same men who made the drawings. In one 
of the caves of France inhabited by prehistoric 
men, and thickly strewn with their chipped 
flints and with the bones of extinct animals 
eaten by the men, a piece of a mammoth’s tusk 
has been found with a mammoth carved upon 
it (Fig. 60) evidently by the men who lived 
there. We also find the heads of reindeer, 
carved upon pieces of bone. The photographs 
reproduced in Figs. 60 and 61 are from drawings 
of the actual specimens. In Fig. 61 is shown 
a piece of an antler upon which a reindeer is 
cleverly outlined. The tuft of hair below the chin 
is shown, and the great feet and the extra toes 
are correctly pictured. Clearly the men who 
drew this reindeer lived with the reindeer. And 
besides the reindeer, living with those men in 
the South of France was the great mammoth. 
90 


THE MAMMOTH 


The mammoth was like an Indian elephant, 
but with a coarse hairy pelt and its tusks had a 
slightly different curvature from that seen in the 


Fic. 60.—Engravings on ivory and bone made by ancient men, 
who lived in caves in the South of France at the time 
when the mammoth, reindeer, bear and hyzena inhabited 
Europe. The uppermost figure is that of a mammoth, 
the others represent reindeer. 


Indian elephant. It was a little bigger than 
the biggest Indian elephant. 
The mammoth has left its remains all over 
the Holarctic region. Even in our own country 
QI 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


we are continually coming across tusks and 
teeth. In the Natural History Museum there 
is a whole skull, with enormous tusks, which was 
dug up in a brick-field at Ilford in East London 
about twenty-five years ago. From this brick- 


Fic. 61.—Engraving ona piece of an antler found in a cave in 
Switzerland. It represents very accurately a Reindeer. 


field I used to get many remains of mammoth, 
rhinoceros and hippopotamus when I was a 
boy. When this mammoth’s skull was found 
by the workmen, the authorities of the British 
Museum of that day sent down a man to remove 
the specimen with the oreatest care, and it is 
now at the Natural History Museum. 
92 


THE 


MAMMOTH 


) 


The remains of the mammoth are found in 


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enormous abundance throughout the Holarctic 


It is probable that this huge beast 
93 


region. 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


existed later in Asia and Siberia than in our 
part of the world. In the north of Siberia 
complete carcases of the mammoth and also of 
the hairy rhinoceroses are found in a frozen 
condition, with the skin, hair, trunk and soft 
parts complete. 


Fic. 63.—Skeleton of a male of the giant Irish deer (Cervus 
giganteus) dug up from peat in Ireland. 

At the beginning of the last century one of 
these frozen carcases was removed to the 
Museum at St. Petersburg. It is from this 
specimen, drawn in Fig. 62, that we know that 
the mammoth had a hairy skin. 

94 


THE GIANT IRISH DEER 


It is an interesting fact that the newborn 
young, both of the Indian and the African 
elephant have a complete coat of fairly long 
hair, which disappears in a few weeks. So the 
mammoth is not really peculiar in this matter. 

In Fig. 63 is shown the skeleton of the largest 
and most beautiful of all the deer tribe; it is 
now extinct, but existed later in Ireland than 
anywhere else, and in great numbers. The 
bones are found in the moss and bogs of Ireland. 

It was co-existent with primitive man, and 
perhaps survived in Ireland till nearly historic 
times. Why it died out there is a difficult 
thing to explain. 

As our explorations into the river gravels of 
only twenty or thirty feet depth have brought 
us into contact with the mammoth, I propose 
now to say something more about recent and 
extinct elephants, and to take a glance at the 
past history of the elephant tribe. 

Fig. 64 gives a careful restoration of the hairy 
mammoth as it must have appeared in life, and 
in Fig. 65 we have a photograph from life of the 
Indian elephant. In the Indian elephant you 
should note the comparatively small ear and the 
high forehead. 

95 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


Fig. 66 is a photograph from life of the African 


It has a longer head and much 


elephant. 


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ey} ‘sysng podAdano ATsnormno ey puB “yeoo Arey oy} BION oytT UL poavodde 


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‘ a 
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larger ear than the Indian species. 


The biggest Indian elephant is very rarely 


96 


THE INDIAN ELEPHANT 


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= = = a ~~ 


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ANIMALS 


EXTINCT 


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queydeiy uBoLapy oy} Jo uouToeds Sunod w& jo ydeasojoyq— 


eae 


99 


ol 


98 


TUSKS OF ELEPHANTS 


as much as eleven feet high at the shoulders. 
But some specimens of the African elephant 
must grow to twelve and possibly thirteen feet 


Fic. 67.—Two tusks of Elephants photographed from speci- 
mens in the Natural History Museum. The smaller is a 
fine tusk of the Indian elephant, weighing 70 lb. The 
larger is the biggest tusk of a recent elephant on record. 
It weighs 228 Ib. and is ten feet two inches in length, 
measured along the outer curvature. It is one of a pair 
belonging to an African elephant, and was brought to 
Zanzibar from the interior about ten years ago. 


in height, if we may judge by the size of 
their tusks. 
Fig. 67 shows two elephants’ tusks: the two 
specimens are in the Natural History Museum. 
99 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


One is a very fine Indian elephant’s tusk, 
weighing seventy-two pounds—as big an Indian 
elephant’s tusk as is to be found in any museum. 
The other is an African elephant’s tusk; it is 


Fie. 68.—Skeleton of the American Mastodon (Mastodon 
americanus). 


ten feet two inches in length, and weighs 228 

pounds. It is the biggest tusk ever seen in the 

ivory market, and was purchased for the Museum 

in 1900. Elephants’ tusks have for many years 

been imported from Africa, and never has one 
100 


TUSKS OF ELEPHANTS 


been seen to approach this in size. Anything 
near 150 pounds in weight is considered enor- 
mous; and this weighs 228 pounds. It was 
brought from Zanzibar ten years ago, and is one 


aor “oe 
ie LEE: 
eePe Oe pares 
5 Breeh 


Fic. 69.—Skeleton of Indian Elephant (Hie maximus). 


of a pair which probably formed part of the 
treasure collected by Emin Pasha. 

In Fig. 68 we have represented the skeleton 
of a creature very similar to the true Elephant, 
but that it has slightly different teeth and a 
more “‘ snouty ”’ or elongated head and jaw. It 

Io! 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


is the American mastodon. The skeleton should 
be compared with that of the mammoth given 
in Fig. 62, and with that of the Indian 
elephant shown in Fig. 69. 

In the United States (Ohio and other localities) 
very complete remains of this enormous creature 
have been found in bogs and morasses which 
are probably not more ancient than the peat 
bogs of Ireland in which the great Irish stag is 
found. Man was certainly contemporary with 
some of the American species of mastodon. 
But in Europe no mastodons survived to so 
late a period. Other and older species of 
mastodon seem to have preceded the elephants 
in Europe, Africa and Asia, and in fact to have 
been the ancestors from which elephants were 
derived. 


102 


CHAPTER til 


THE ANCESTRAL HISTORY OF ELEPHANTS— 
EXTINCT HORSES AND RHINOCEROSES— 
THE ARSINOITHERIUM. 


i eee we compare the American mastodon 

with true elephants, viz., the African, 
the Indian, and the Holarctic one called the 
mammoth, we find in the first place that though 
the mastodon is as big a beast as any of these, 
and very close to them in the form and arrange- 
ment of its bones, yet there are two important 
differences to be observed. These relate first 
to the shape of the head, and secondly to the 
shape and number of the teeth. If you look 
at an elephant’s skull (Fig. 70) and compare it 
with that of a dog (Fig. 71) or pig, you will be 
struck by the abrupt way in which the bones 
of the face are set. The face is almost straight 
so far as the bony parts are concerned—both 
the upper and lower jaw are quite short. There 
is, in fact, no “ snout ”’ indicated in the bony 


103 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


skull. This extreme shortening or pushing in 
(as it were) of the face is similar to what occurs 
in bulldogs and pugs as compared with ordinary 
long-snouted dogs, as is shown in Fig. 71, only 
in the elephant it is carried further than in any 


P EM arr 


Fie. 70.—Skull of an adult Indian Elephant. The skull is 
placed in position, so that the grinding surface of the 
molar teeth is horizontal. 


dog. We may call this shortening of the face 

‘* pull-dogging.” This “‘ bull-dogging”’ of the 

skull occurs in a South American race of cattle 

called the Neatta breed. It seems that the 

ancestral elephants must have had a long face 
104 


BULL-DOG SKULLS 


and bony snout like other animals, but that 
their descendants have gradually become “ bull- 


and of a grey- 


left, 


hound on the right, to show the shortening of the bones of the face in the 
same skulls in section, so as to display 


Photographs of skulls of a Bull-dog on the 
The lower figures show the 


ce 

~~ 

= 

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@ 

Oo 

- 

=i 

io) 

i) 

32 
~ 

nm O 

[ et 

— + 


Fia. 


dogged.”” The mastodon’s skull (Fig. 72) shows 
far more of a projecting bony face or snout 
fo) ey 


105 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


than does that of the elephant, and this would 
lead us to suppose that the mastodons are more 
primitive, that is to say, more like the ancient 
ancestors of elephants, than are the true ele- 
phants. An interesting fact in this connexion 
is that the young new-born elephant has a more 


; i PLA 


] 


Fic. 72.—Photograph of the skull of the American Mastodon 
(Mastodon americanus), from the specimen in the Natural 
History Museum. 


‘““snouty ” skull than the grown-up elephant, 
as is shown by Figs. 73, 74 and 75. It is often 
the case that very young animals show features 
in which they resemble their ancestors, which 
disappear as the young creatures grow to full 
size. 

106 


NEW-BORN ELEPHANT’S SKULL 


It is not only in having a more elongated 
face that the American mastodon is of a more 
primitive build than the true elephants. Its 
teeth also are less peculiar than those of true 
elephants and more like in number and shape 


Fic. 73.—Skull of a new-born Indian Elephant, photographed 
from a specimen in the Natural History Museum. 


to those of the ordinary, more central kinds 
of mammals, such as the pig (see Fig. 50 in 
the last lecture). The elephant has _ two 
enormous incisor teeth in the upper jaw, 
in front—the tusks. There are no corre- 


107 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


sponding teeth in the lower jaw. Then there 
is a gap in the series, and we come to the 
cheek teeth, which are very strange. The jaws, 
both upper and lower, are so short, and the teeth 


Fic. 74.—Section of the skull of a young Indian Elephant, to 
compare with the section of a half-grown elephant’s skull 
given in Fig. 75, in which the face has become relatively 
shortened and upright. Note in this and in Fig. 75 the 
curious conical nasal bone, which is like a small bony 
horn. 


are so big, that there is only room for one tooth 

or a tooth and a half on each side above and 

below at one time. An elephant only ever has 
108 


ELEPHANT’S TEETH 


three full-sized cheek-teeth on each side above 
and below (twelve in all), and these push from 
behind forwards—the first getting worn out 
and pushed forwards as the second comes for- 
wards, and this again wearing out and dis- 


Fic. 75.—Section of a half-grown Indian Elephant’s skull, 
with the first and second molar teeth in position (therefore 
more than twenty and less than twenty-five years old). 


appearing as the third pushes itself into place 

from the back of the jaw. Three little “ milk 

teeth ’’ or first-teeth of the molar series precede 

these on each side above and below, and are 

lost one after the other—between the second 
109 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


and fifteenth years of life. The first big molar 
comes into place in the fifteenth year, and lasts 
for ten years, when its place is taken by the 
second, which is already showing its crown in 


LFr 


Fic. 76.—Lower jaw of an Indian Elephant, showing two molars 
on each side, the front ones wearing away as the back ones 
come. up into position. The transverse ridges on the 
teeth are well seen. 


the twentieth year. The third comes forward 
in the same way about twenty years later. 

The molar teeth of the Indian elephant and 
of the mammoth have a great number of narrow 
transverse ridges set across the crown of the 


IIo 


RIDGES ON ELEPHANT’S TEETH 


tooth. As many as twenty-seven of these 
ridges are seen on the biggest molar tooth when 
it is in place, and the whole surface is worn by 
grinding. In Fig. 76 the ridges on the teeth 
are shown, but not to the full number, as the 
front tooth is reduced in size by wear, and the 
hinder one has not yet got all its crown into 


Fic. 764.—The last molar of the lower jaw of a Mammoth, in 
order to show the great number of transverse ridges or 
segments of the tooth (as many as twenty-two in this 
specimen), a feature in which the Indian elephant and the 
mammoth are closely similar. 


play. In Fig. 77 is shown a photograph of the 
lower jaw of an African elephant. Only one big 
molar tooth on each side is in position, and it 
has eleven transverse ridges. This is the most 
the African elephant ever has. It will be seen, 
by comparing the figures, that the ridges of the 
African elephant are much wider than those 
of the Indian. The corresponding tooth of the 


1a tf 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


Indian elephant, owing to the narrower shape 
of the ridges, would have twenty-seven of them 
in view when fully “cut.’? Now there is no 
doubt that the increase in the number of the 
ridges and their narrow form is a late and special 


4 1FT 


Fic. 77.—Lower jaw of an adult African Elephant, showing 
molars with only eleven transverse ridges, or “ lozenges.” 


character of the elephants. Their cheek-teeth 

would be more like those of pigs, tapirs and 

bears, if they had fewer transverse ridges. 

Accordingly, in correspondence with the view 

that the mastodons are more primitive in their 
112 


RIDGES OF MASTODON’S TEETH 


characters than the true elephants, we find that 
their cheek-teeth have very few transverse 
ridges—from two to five (fig. 78)—and that the 
jaw is relatively longer, so that there is room, 


[eo I 


Fig. 78.—Lower jaw of the American Mastodon, with two 
molars on each side, completely cut, showing respectively 
three and four transverse ridges only. Note also the 
elongated form of the jaw. 


not only for two complete crowns of molars .to 

_be in position on each side at the same time, but 

even forthree. Thus we approach nearer to the 

central or “‘ typical ” condition of the mammals’ 

teeth which, as we have seen in the pig (fig. 50) 
113 I 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


shows seven cheek-teeth in position on each side 
in each jaw at once—of which the front ones are 
second-teeth and were preceded by milk-teeth 
—whilst the three big back ones are not pre- 
ceded. In tracing the ancestry of living mam- 
mals through extinct ancestors of different suc- 
ceeding geological ages, we expect to find even 
the strangest and most curiously modified 
creatures, such as are the elephants in regard to 
their teeth and jaws and the horses in regard 
to their toes—preceded by forms which bring 
us nearer and nearer, as we recede into the past, 
to a sort of common form or “type” of the 
mammalian group—a_hairy-coated creature, 
with five toes on each foot, the typical dentition 
or tooth series of three incisors, one canine, 
four front or fore-molars, and three back molars 
on each side of each jaw, with three or four 
tubercles or knobs on the crowns of the molar 
teeth. And we do not expect this remote an- 
cestor to be very big—not much bigger than a 
dog—since great size is a peculiarity implying 
long and special predominance. 

A further point in which the American masto- 
don is more like the ordinary run of mammals 
than are the elephants, is that it has front teeth 

II4 


THE LONG-JAWED MASTODON 


—a single pair—in its lower jaw when it is quite 
young. These drop out in the American masto- 
dons, but we have here a photograph (Fig. 79) 
of the skeleton of a much older mastodon, the re- 
mains of which were dug up in strata of the 
Middle Miocene (not only below Pleistocene, but 


Fie. 784.—Molar teeth of Mastodon arvernensis, photographed 
from specimens found in the Red Crag of Suffolk. These 
molars have five transverse ridges : that on the left shows 
the bony fangs beneath the crown of the tooth. 


below Pliocene and below Upper Miocene) in 
France. This skeleton is preserved in the Museum 
of Paris, where the photograph was taken. You 
will see that its head differs in many ways from 
that of elephants and the late American masto- 
don. It has an extraordinarily long lower 


II5 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


jaw, with two tusks init. A drawing of the side 
view of the skull is shown in Fig. 80, and you 


(Tetrabelodon) 


see Ss 
esr 


LS 
=] 


gi Bh 


Y 
Aa? As 
is 


Ee Ege Are 


79.—Photograph of the complete skeleton of Mastodon 


F ta. 


can see how the two horizontal lower teeth 
must have played between the two curious 
downwardly-bent tusks of the upper jaw. 

116 


angustidens, from the Miocene strata of the South of France; taken from the 


specimen as it now stands in the Museum: of the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. 


THE LONG-JAWED MASTODON 


By way of parenthesis I must here mention 
a mastodon-like creature of the same age— 
which had no tusks in the upper jaw, but two 
huge tusks in the lower jaw, which is bent 
downward. This is the Dinotherium, found in 
the Miocene in Germany and other localities. 
It seems to have left no modern representatives, 


- Fig. 80.—Restored representation of the skull and lower jaw 
of Mastodon (Tetrabelodon) angustidens from a drawing 
prepared by Dr. Henry Woodward, F.R.S. 


and is a sort of extinct side-branch of the ele- 
phant family. The big tusks of the lower jaw 
were probably used for raking up roots in the 
mud of rivers and lakes. 

The Miocene mastodon, with the long lower 
jaw, is known as T'etrabelodon angustidens. The 
examination of its skeleton some years ago led 
me to the conclusion (as, indeed, was inevitable) 

I17 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


that it could not have had a depending trunk 
like an elephant has and such as the short-jawed 
mastodons certainly must have had. Its 
“trunk ’? must have rested horizontally on the 


pu 
S Ae Reye, Lg 
SS i, re 


ae 


Fic. 81.—The skull of Dinotheriwm giganteum, IKKaup, from 
the Miocene of Eppelsheim, near Worms, on the Rhine. 


long lower jaw between the upper tusks—and 

was in fact not a “‘ trunk” at all, but an elon- 

gated upper lip (Fig. 82)—representing the 

middle part of the upper jaw in a soft, flexible 
118 


THE LONG-JAWED MASTODON 


condition. It seemed to me probable that the 
elephant’s trunk had originated in this way: 


(Original. ) 


Fia. 82.—Drawing representing the probable appearance in life of the. 
Tetrabelodon angustidens, 


namely by the great elongation, in the first 
place, of the lower jaw and upper lip and jaw, 
119 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


and by the subsequent shrinking of the lower 
jaw and bull-dogging of the bones of the face. 
Thus the elongated mid-part of the face—no 
longer supported by a long lower jaw—would 
gradually drop as the lower jaw grew shorter 
and shorter in successive ages, and at last it 
would hang down as a perpendicular trunk. 

In Fig. 83 I have endeavoured to represent 
this long-jawed mastodon (Tetrabelodon) open- 
ing his mouth and rearing his flexible, boneless 
upper jaw as does the living elephant rear his 
trunk (Fig. 84). It is very difficult to form a 
definite idea as to how the Tetrabelodon made 
use of his tusks and horizontal “ trunk.” The 
upper tusks have a sharp edge along the inner 
face strengthened by enamel, so that it is 
probable that, working against the tough skin 
pads of the lower jaw, they would serve for 
cutting vegetable matter. 

My friend Rudyard Kipling has given a 
different account of the origin of the elephant’s 
trunk, which he declares was formed by the 
pulling of the nose of an unfortunate young 
elephant which, before the days of trunks, stopped 
to drink some water from a pool, and was seized 
by an enormous crocodile just about the nose. 


120 


ORIGIN OF THE ELEPHANT’S TRUNK 


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yqnour uedo YIM suapysnbup Uopojagnjaf, JO peo, 944 Jo SUIMBIP Y—'ES “OI 


EZ, 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


The elephant pulled, and the crocodile held 
firm, and the result was the stretching of the 
elephant’s nose till it became a trunk. This 
story was not told to Mr. Rudyard Kipling by 
the boy Mowgli of the Jungle Book, who I feel 
sure must have heard from the elephants the 


Fic. 84.—Drawing of the head of the African Elephant 
with up-lifted trunk. 


history as I have given it unless, as is not un- 
likely, they have forgotten all about the way in 
which their trunks grew, and would reject, as 
most men and women do, the notion that they 
have been derived by slow change in long ages 
of time from other and more simple animals. 


122 


THE ORIGIN OF ELEPHANTS 


The history, suggested above, of the gradual 
production of the elephant in the later ages of 
the world’s history from a long-jawed creature 
has been wonderfully confirmed by the dis- 
coveries made in Egypt within the past four 
years by my friend Dr. Andrews, who is one of 
the staff of the Natural History Museum. Dr. 
Andrews was in Egypt four years ago on account 
of his health and joined a party of the officers 
of the great survey of Egypt, organized by Lord 
Cromer, in a visit to the Great Western Desert, 
the rainless, sandy waste lying west of the Nile, 
not very far from what is now called the Fayum, 
and where in Roman days was the great Lake 
Meris—now dried up to a mere brine-pool, in 
the salt water of which the freshwater fishes of 
the Nile still live. The surveying party in- 
tended to determine the geological age of these 
sands, which stretch for hundreds of miles, often 
rising into cliffs which are cut sharp by the 
wind and show horizontal stratification. Some 
fragments of bone had been recorded from this 
region twenty years ago by the traveller 
Schweinfurth, and Dr. Andrews, who is a 
special expert and authority in the interpreta- 
tion of fossil bones, was hopeful of securing 


PID) 
123 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


some specimens for the Natural History Museum. 
He was rewarded far beyond his expectations. 
The party had to travel into an absolute desert 
waterless region, establishing a staff of camels 
which daily brought up water as far as three 
days’ march into the sandy wilderness, return- 


Pe A 


Fic. 85.—A scene in the Fayum Desert, showing the remains 
of silicified trees, embedded in the sands. From a photo- 
graph by Dr. Andrews. 


ing with empty tanks on their backs to fetch 

more. In Fig. 85 is reproduced one of many 

photographs taken by Dr. Andrews. It shows 

the flat sandy desert with some fossilized lumps 

lying in the sand which are the remains of trees. 

The geologists determined that the sands in 
124 


THE FOSSIL ANIMALS OF THE FAYUM 


this region were of Upper Eocene and of Miocene 
age, and from them Dr. Andrews brought home 
some very interesting bones. These included 
remains of a more primitive mastodon than any 
as yet known and of an animal which he called 
Meritherium (after Lake Meris)—which is the 
connecting link between elephants and the 
central typidentate mammals. But the col- 
lection included also remains of great carnivores, 
of Hyrax of great size (like the Syrian coney), of 
Sea-cows (Sirenians), and of Tortoises, and a 
Snake sixty feet long. The Egyptian Survey 
has since in the most enthusiastic way sent 
further expeditions into this desert to collect 
the bones of the extinct animals half-buried 
there, and Dr. Andrews, by the direction of the 
Trustees of the British Museum and further 
assisted by a generous donation from Mr. 
de Winton, has twice again in succeeding years 
camped out in the desert and excavated the 
sands by the aid of a troop of native diggers. 
In regard to the history of elephants, the 
upshot of Dr. Andrews’ most important dis- 
coveries is that we find living here in the Upper 
Eocene period (older than the German or 
French Miocene with its Tetrabelodon) an 
125 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


elephant ancestor of the mastodon kind to 
which Dr. Andrews has given the name Palzo- 
mastodon. The skulls and many limb-bones of 


Fig. 1 


Fig. 4 


Fic. 86.—Profile views of a series of Elephant ancestors, from 
drawings by Dr. Andrews. 1. The Indian Elephant. 
2. The American Mastodon. 3. The Miocene Tetrabelo- 
don (France). 4. The Eocene Paleomastodon (Egypt). 
5. The Eocene Meritherium (Egypt). 


this interesting creature have been obtained, 
and are now reposing, some in Cromwell Road 
126 


THE ANCESTORS OF ELEPHANTS 


and some far away in the fine Museum of the 
Egyptian Survey in Cairo. In Fig. 86 a 
drawing (No. 4) is given of the skull of 
this Paleomastodon. The _ figure includes 
several other elephant forms. We have the 
skull and lower jaw of Tetrabelodon (No. 3), 
of the American mastodon (No. 2), and of the 
Indian elephant (No. 1). It will be seen at 
once how completely the Palzeomastodon skull 
fills in the series leading back from the bull- 
dog-faced elephants with short jaws to or- 
dinary mammals. It has a fairly long skull 
and long bony face, with two large—but not 
_very large—downwardly directed tusks. The 
jaws are long, but the lower one not so exces- 
sively long as that of Tetrabelodon (No. 3), 
and the cheek-teeth are there in nearly full 
number—as many as five in each half of each 
jaw. These are well seen in the view of the 
lower jaw given in Fig. 87 (No. 2), where the 
condition of the lower jaw of Paleeomastodon is 
clearly contrasted with that of Tetrabelodon 
(Mastodon angustidens, No. 3). 

In Paleomastodon we have arrived, by 
passing as far back as the Eocene strata, at an 
ancestral elephant-like creature which serves 

127 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


to join the elephant stock on to more ordinary 
“normal”? mammals. I should say that this 
beast was not so very big—about as large as a 


Fic. 87.—Lower jaws of extinct Elephants, from drawings by 
Dr. Andrews. 1. The lower jaw (and above it the upper 
jaw) of Meritherium, showing six molar or cheek-teeth in 
position. 2. The lower jaw of Paleomastodon. 3. The 
lower jaw of Tetrabelodon. (Compare with the lower 
jaws of more recent forms shown in Fig. 76, 77 and 78.) 

fair-sized horse. Dr. Andrews’ great triumph, 

however, is the discovery of a somewhat 
smaller animal in the same deposits, which is 
undoubtedly an elephant, and yet at first sight 


128 


THE EARLIEST ELEPHANT ANCESTOR 


has no resemblance to one and probably had 
no trunk at all, as certainly it had only small 


Fic. 88.—Profile and palatine views of the skull of Meritherium 
Lyonsi, as restored by Dr. Andrews. Note the elongated 
form of the skull and the normal development of teeth, 
viz. six incisors (above), a right and left small canine and 
six molars on each side (above and below). 


tooth-like tusks, unworthy of comparison with 
129 K 


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di soddn oy Alqeqoig ‘paempoo,, ssi Aq UMeap ‘[eUITUR 949 JO OUT[YNO PeIOyso. B 
:qdAsny ‘unABy oy} JO qAoSop UeYSeAA JBOIKH 9YY JO BYBIYS OUEDO7;T JoddgQ oYy Ut 


‘ummesnyy ALojstp] [BANYVN 9Y9 Jo ‘smoapuy “aqZ Aq pedoAoostp ‘UMUEYILWe; OU T— 68 “Ol 


gstpapee- Ri “SRR 


130 


THE EARLIEST ELEPHANT ANCESTOR 


the great ivory columns of later elephants. 
This is the Meritherium seen in Fig 86 (No. 5), 
and more fully exhibited in Figs. 88 and 89. 
As is obvious at once, the skull of Meritherium 
does not suffer from “ bull-dogging”’ at all; 
there is a fine, well-developed facial region, and 
the teeth are neither deficient in number nor 
greatly exaggerated individually. The ‘“ den- 
tition” (that is to say, the enumeration of the 
complete series of teeth) approaches closely to 
that of the central mammals with typical den- 
tition. In the upper jaw (as shown in Fig. 88) 
there are six front teeth or incisors, and it is 
the second of these on each side which is enlarged 
and is (so to speak) going to become the great 
tusk of the elephants. In the lower jaw there 
are four front teeth (see Fig. 87, No. 1). In the 
upper jaw we also find a small canine or dog- 
tooth ; next the incisors and the cheek-teeth 
in both upper and lower jaw are fully repre- 
sented, namely six on each side in each jaw— 
only one short of the type-number. And yet. 
these cheek-teeth are quite obviously and recog- 
nizably mastodon teeth. They have the trans- 
verse ridges of the mastodon tooth (two or three) 
and are in other features like those of mastodons. 
131 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


Here, then, we have arrived at a form which 
undoubtedly was closely related to the ancestors 
of all the elephants—if not itself actually that 
ancestor—and in it we see the origin of the ele- 
phant’s peculiar structure. From this com- 
paratively normal pig-like Meritherium, the 
wondertul elephant, with his upright face, his 
dependent trunk, and his huge spreading tusks, 
has been gradually, step by step, produced. 
And we have seen some, at least, of the inter- 
mediate steps—the elongation of the jaws and 
increase of the size of the incisors in Palzo- 
mastodon—carried still further in Tetrabelodon, 
and then followed by a shrinkage of the lower 
jaw and final evolution of the middle part of 
the face and upper jaw as the drooping, wonder- 
ful, prehensile trunk. 


4 


So much for the “ great sagacious elephant ” 
and his extinct relatives. Let us now turn for a 
few minutes to the most beautiful and the most 
helpful to man of all animals—the horse, nobler 
as he is bigger and stronger and more beautifully 
shaped, than man’s other animal companion, the 
dog. The horse is curiously different from the 
central typical mammals in that he has only 
one toe on each foot instead of five, and further, 


2M} 
132 


THE ANCESTORS OF THE HORSE 


in the complex pattern of his teeth. But 
immense numbers of extinct horses and horse- 
like creatures have been dug up, and we now 
know quite clearly all the stages leading from 
living horses back to four-toed and ultimately 
to five-toed ancestors. First of all I will put 


Fic. 90.—Photograph of a model of a thoroughbred English 
horse, by Vashtag; one of a series in the Natural History 
Museum. 


before you a photograph of a very beautiful 
model of an English thoroughbred (Fig. 90). 
There are a set of these models, both of horses 
and cattle, in the Natural History Museum : 
each is carefully modelled to one-fourth the 


133 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


size of nature. They were executed by a 
Hungarian artist for the exhibition at Buda- 
Pesth some years ago, and we ought to have 
such a series made now in England of samples 
of all the best breeds. It is the only way 
of keeping a really complete and satisfactory 
record, and such models of known horses and 
cattle, made to-day, would be of immense 
interest and value in fifty years’ time. But 
they are costly things to make, and can only be 
undertaken by the rich owners of race-horses 
and pedigree bulls. 

Fig. 91 shows us the fore and the hind foot 
of the horse. As is very usual with photo- 
graphers and those who prepare drawings and 
lantern-slides, the artist has placed the hind- 
foot in front and the front-foot behind. The 
hind-foot (that on the left) shows the heel-bone 
or “hock” (the caleaneum) standing forth at 
the top of the ankle. Below you see the three 
bones which constitute,as in our toes and fingers, 
what is called the digit. Then there is a long 
bone, which is the meta-tarsal bone. In the 
front-foot the similar bone is called the meta- 
carpal. At the top of these are several short 
bones jointed together; these are the tarsus or 


134 


Fic. 91.—Hind and fore-foot of an English cart-horse, to show 
the single toe of three pieces—or joints—and the small 
splint-bones on each side of the long metatarsal and meta- 


carpal bone. 
135 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


ankle and the carpus or wrist (so-called “‘ knee ”’ 
of the horse’s front-leg) respectively. You see, 
the horse walks on the very last joint of its toes, 
and keeps the foot and the hand upright, so 
that the heel is right above the toe instead of 
behind it, as in ourselves and the bears. On 
each side of the long bone of both fore and hind- 
foot you will see a small long bone, narrow and 
delicate. The nearer one of these delicate bones 
is not very clearly shown in the photograph, 
but still can be made out. These delicate 


e) 


‘* splint-bones,” as they are called, are all that 
remain in the modern horse of two additional 
toes. There was a time when horses had three 
toes—far back in the Miocene strata we find 
horses which had three well-developed toes, each 
with a hoof resting on the ground (the Meso- 
hippus and Anchitherium), and earlier than 
that we find a horse-like creature (Hyraco- 
therium) with three nearly equal-sized toes on 
the hind-foot and four on the front foot (Fig. 
92). In the Pliocene we find a_ three-toed 
horse in Europe known as the Hipparion (and 
a similar kind is dug up in America), which had 
three toes on each foot; but the side toes were 
getting small, were in fact like the “ petti-toes ”’ 


136 


THE ANCESTORS OF THE HORSE 


of the pig, and of cattle, and of the reindeer. 
They did not touch the ground (Fig. 93), and 


Fic. 92.—Hind-foot (to the left) and fore-foot (to the right) of 
the horse-ancestor, Hyracotherium. The fore-foot is seen 
to have four toes in full development. Photographed 
from specimens in the Natural History Museum. ° 

were evidently on the way to disappearing, 

leading to the single-toed modern horse, with 


137 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


its splint-bones, as the sole representatives of 


Fic. 93.—The hind- and the fore-foot of Hipparion, one of the 
three-toed ancestors of the horse. The side-toes were 
* pettitoes ’ and did not reach the ground. 


the two outer toes. Occasionally living horses 


’ 


13) 


THE ANCESTORS OF THE HORSE 


are born with two complete little toes provided 
with hoofs and attached to the splint-bones, 
one on each side of the big central toe, “ throw- 
ing back,” as the term is, to their three-toed 
ancestors. Beyond the stage, with four equal 
toes on the front foot and three on the hind- 
foot, which is exhibited by a quite small horse- 


Fic. 94.—The skeleton of Hyracotherium, an ancestor of 
the modern horse, found in Eocene strata. 


like creature—the Hyracotherium shown in 
Figs. 94 and 95—we can trace the pedigree of 
the horse to a five-toed ancestor, the Phenacodus 
(Fig. 96). The later stages of this history, from 
the Mesohippus to the modern horse, have been 
traced by very abundant fossil remains of many 
steps or stages in the gradual change. Not only 
139 


ANIMALS 


EXTINCT 


has there been a gradual change from the three- 


toed to the one-toed condition, but there has 


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been a great increase in size, and moreover the 


cheek-teeth have gradually become more and 


140 


THE ANCESTORS OF THE HORSE 


more complex in the pattern which they show 
when worn down. In Fig. 97 crowns of the 


Fic. 96.—Skeleton of the Phenacodus, a five-toed Eocene 
animal related to the ancestors of the horse. 


cheek-teeth of the Mesohippus are represented, 
and in Fig. 98 the crown of an upper molar of 


Fic. 97.—Cheek-teeth, or molars, of the upper and lower jaw, 
left side, of Mesohippus Bairdii, from the Middle Oligo- 


cene of South Dakota. ae 


a recent horse. There are a great number of 
I4I 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


interesting details in the history of the changes 
of the teeth and toes of the ancestral series of 
horses which it is not within my scope to 
describe here, but they may be studied on speci- 


mesostyle parastyle 


metastyle 


metacone~ Ne 
, 


metaconule.+ 


pretoloph 


pete ph : 


Fic. 98.—Upper molar tooth of arecent horse. A, uncut and 
unworn ; PB, C, D, in successive stages of wear. 


mens of a variety of ancestral horses which have 
been set out for the purpose in the Natural 
History Museum. 
The rhinoceroses of to-day—the unicorn or 
142 


RECENT AND EXTINCT RHINOCEROSES 


Indian rhinoceros and the two-horned African 
rhinoceroses, one with a pointed upper lip and 
the other with a square, broad mouth—have 
been preceded by a whole regiment of extinct 
rhinoceroses, whose bones and skulls are dug 
up in the Pleistocene, Pliocene and Miocene 
strata. In Fig. 99 is represented the complete 


Fie. 99.—The skeleton of Rhinoceros antiquitatis, the woolly 
rhinoceros of the late Pleistocene period in Europe and 
Siberia. 

skeleton of the commonest kind of fossil rhino- 

ceros, the skull of which was dug up in London 

the other day and is shown in Fig. 5. This 
rhinoceros had a hairy coat like the mam- 
moth, and is found sometimes with the mam- 
moth in frozen gravel in Siberia. The living 


143 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


rhinoceros most like it is the African square- 
mouthed rhinoceros or Burchell’s rhinoceros 
(Rhinoceros simus), misleadingly called some- 
times the white rhinoceros (Fig. 100). Many 
of the extinct kinds of rhinoceros had two horns, 
one behind the other like the African rhinoceros. 
The horn of the rhinoceros is truly horny in 


Fic. 100. —- Photograph of a stuffed specimen of the sue 
mouthed African Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros simus) preserved 
in the Natural History Museum. 

substance, and fibrous. It is not bone, as are the 

horns of stags, nor has it a core of bone as have 

the horns of sheep, cattle and antelopes. Some- 
times, however, there is a fairly big boss of bone, 
which forms a sort of base or pedestal for the 
horny horn. One great extinct beast (the 
Elasmotherium), allied to the rhinoceroses, had a 


144 


ET 


GaN 


wal 


it 
f “ay 


THE TITANOTHERIUM 


145 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


great horn, carried on a huge boss on the middle 
of its head instead of on the nose, whilst in the 
Miocene of North America complete skeletons 
have been found of an enormous creature allied 


Fic. 102.—Photograph of a skull of Titanotherium in the 
Natural History Museum, showing the huge molar teeth. 


to the rhinoceroses, but having a pair of horns, 

perched side by side on the nose, instead of one 

in‘ the mid-line, or two placed one behind the 

other. The skeleton of this great beast, called 
146 


THE EXTINCT DINOCERAS 


Titanotherium, is shown in Fig. 101, and in 
Figs. 102 and 103 photographic views of the 
skull are given. 

As large as the rhinoceros, but having a very 
different arrangement of the bones of its wrists 
and ankles, and very different teeth and horns, 


Fic. 103.—Side-view of the skull of Titanotherium, to show 
the two bony upgrowths of the nasal region which 
carried horns. Photographed from a specimen in the 
Natural History Museum. 

are the extraordinary creatures known as 

Dinoceras, whole skeletons of which have been 

disinterred from the Upper Eocene of Wyoming 

in the United States. As many as two hundred 
individuals were studied by Professor Marsh, 
who has written a large treatise on them. 

These creatures had three pairs of horns on the 


147 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


top of the head (Fig. 104) and a pair of great 
tusks formed by the enlargement of the upper 
canine teeth. The horns are outgrowths of the 
bone of the skull and were probably covered by 


Fic. 104.—Skeleton of Dinoceras mirabile, from the Upper 
Eocene of Wyoming, U.S.A. 


hardened skin. The probable appearance of 
this creature in life is shown in Fig. 105. 
A very interesting fact has been observed 
about the brains of these most ancient big mam- 
148 


THE DINOCERAS 


mals, viz., the Dinoceras occurring so far back 
as in the Upper Eocene, and the Titanotherium 


Probable appearance in life of the Dinoceras mirabile of North America. 


Fig. 105. 


of the Lower Miocene. We can get castings 
from the interior of the skulls and compare them 
149 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


with those of recent rhinoceros, hippopotamus 
and horse (Fig. 106), and it is found that although 
Dinoceras and ‘Titanotherium were _ bigger 
than the largest rhinoceros of to-day, yet they 
had quite small brains, not more than an 
eighth the volume of that of the recent big 
animals. The subject has not been so fully 
Z . oe 
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6 
a K 
: 


Fic. 106.—Photographs of plaster casts of the brain-cavity of 
A, Dinoceras; B, Hippopotamus; C, Horse; and D, 
Rhinoceros: to show the relatively very small size of 
the brain of Dinoceras. 


looked into yet as it deserves, but it seems that 
modern animals, the animals which have sur- 
vived, have much bigger brains than those 
which died out in the Eocene and Miocene 
times, and it is probable that they have survived 
to a large extent because of the value to them, 
in the struggle for existence, of the bigger brain. 


150 


THE SIZE OF BRAINS 


It seems that a small brain may serve very well 
to guide the great animal machine in established 
ways, but in order to learn new things in its 
own lifetime an animal must have a big brain— 
indeed, a very big brain. And the kind of animal 
which can learn—that is to say, can be educated 
—will, in the long run, beat the kind which has 
too small a brain to be capable of learning. 
This is the significance, not only of the big 
brains of recent rhinoceros and horse as com- 
pared with those of Titanotherium and Dino- 
ceras, but it is also the significance of the big 
brain of man, which is far bigger than that of 
any other animal in proportion to the bulk of 
his body and limbs. 

Another huge horned animal has quite lately 
become known which in some ways resembles 
Titanotherium and Dinoceras, but has to be 
kept apart from them on account of being really 
unlike them in its teeth and skull and feet-bones, 
although having a general resemblance to them 
in outline and bulk. This creature was found 
only three years ago in the same Upper Eocene 
sands of the Egyptian Fayum from which Dr. 
Andrews obtained the ancestors of elephants. 
The skull of this most strange animal is shown 


I5I 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


in Fig. 107, and a representation of what we 
suppose it looked like in life is given in Fig. 108. 
This wonderful beast was discovered by Mr. 


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Fie. 107.—Drawing of the skull of Arsinoitherium Zitteli 
(Beadnell), from the specimen preserved in the Natural 
History Museum. The skull was found in the Fayum 
Desert, and is nearly three feet in length. 

Beadnell of the Egyptian Geological Survey, 

and the name Arsinditherium was given to it 


152 


QUEEN ARSINOES GREAT BEAST 


by him because the Egyptian queens of Greek 
named Arsinde—had a palace near where 


race 


(Original ) 


Fie. 108.—A drawing, showing the probable appearance in life of 
Arsinoitherium. 


the bones were dug up. Two thousand years 
ago many parts which are now sandy desert 


153 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


were well-watered and under cultivation. The 
drawing given in Fig. 107 is prepared from a 
skull in the Natural History Museum, where we 
have brought together portions of several other 
skulls and the complete set of bones of the 
skeleton dug up, some by Dr. Andrews and some 
by the energetic officers of the Egyptian Survey. 
The huge pair of horns are entirely bony out- 
growths of the nasal bones, and are hollow. <A 
small second pair of horns lies behind them. 
Probably in life the big horns were clothed with 
a horny case like the horn of a bull or antelope. 
The teeth are most remarkable, since they form 
a complete series, without a break, and are 
present to the full number—seven cheek-teeth, 
a canine and three incisors on each side in both 
upper and lower jaw—wonderfully graduated 
in form and size. 

A complete account and illustrations of the 
remains of this most remarkable beast, the skull 
of which alone is nearly three feet in length, will 
soon be given by Dr. Andrews in a large volume 
on the extinct animals obtained from the sands 
of the Egyptian Fayum which is now in prepara- 
tion and will be published by the Trustees of 
the British Museum. 


154 


CHAPTER IV 


EXTINCT GIRAFFES AND THE OKAPI — THE 
GIANT SLOTHS OF SOUTH AMERICA AND 
THE GIANT KANGAROOS OF AUSTRALIA. 


HERE are a vast number of mammalian 
extinct animals, related to the cattle, 
sheep, goats, antelopes, deer, lions, bears and 
hyenas of to-day, and other less-known warm- 
blooded hairy quadrupeds, besides many, such 
as the Dinoceras and Arsinditherium, which have 
left no successors like themselves to represent 
them in our days. Of both kinds, those which 
have quite died out and disappeared and those 
which have representatives alive to-day, you 
may see the bones and skulls in the Natural 
History Museum. I have not space here 
to speak of more than a few extinct crea- 
tures, and will at once ask you to look at 
some members of the group which to-day is 


155 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


familiar to us through the beautiful giraffe of 
Atrica—the camel-leopard, the spotted, long- 
necked creature which will very soon be killed 
out by the intrusion of civilized man into the 
African wilds. 


fie. 109.—Drawing of the head of the five-horned Giraffe ; 
the single middle horn is seen in front and the two of the 
left side farther back. From a specimen shot at Mount 
Elgon by Sir Harry Johnston. 

We have already seen a photograph of the 
giraffe in the first lecture, with its long neck 
reaching forward and forming a continuous 
line with the back. To-day I show you a 
sketch (Fig. 109) of what Sir Harry Johnston 

156 


THE FIVE-HORNED GIRAFFE 


calls the five-horned giraffe. The ordinary 
giraffe has a pair of short bony outgrowths or 
so-called horns on the parietal region of the 
skull and a single horn of similar character 
between the eyes. But the five-horned girafte 
has an additional short pair of outgrowths at 


ee 


Fic. 110.—Photograph of the skull of the five-horned Girafte. 


the back of the head. All these “horns” in 
the giraffe are covered in life with living skin. 
There is no horny covering to them, nor do 
they grow through the skin and project as naked 
bone, as do the antlers of deer. The skull of 
the five-horned giraffe is seen in Fig. 110. 
Whilst the two hinder knobs, or horns, are real 
E57 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


“outgrowths” of the skull, the chief horns 
(the median and the large pair, of which only 
the left-hand one is visible in the photograph) 
originate as separate bony pieces, which, after 
growing for a time as distinct bones, join tightly 
to the skull. Sir Harry Johnston shot the five- 
horned giraffe in the great “reserve ”’ or pro- 
tected area formed by the crater of the extinct 
voleano Mount Elgon—some five miles across— 
in the British Central African Protectorate of 
Uganda. In less than three weeks from the 
day on which he shot these specimens he was in 
London, and brought the skins and skulls of the 
specimens to the Natural History Museum ! 
Central Africa, under the equator, can now be 
reached in that short space of time. 

In Miocene times there were other large ani- 
mals allied to the giraffe, but without so great 
a length of neck. The giraffe family have 
double hoofs, like the cattle, sheep, antelopes and 
deer, to which they are allied—not single or 
triple hoofs, like the horse family. Besides their 
peculiar and very primitive horns they have 
another small but definite peculiarity. The outer- 
most of the group of eight front teeth in the 
lower jaw corresponds in position to the canine 


158 


THE CANINE TOOTH OF GIRAFFES 


of the pig and other typi-dentate animals 
(animals with “typical”? dentition, that is to 
say, little altered from the form and arrangement 
in early mammalian ancestors). In the cattle, 
sheep, antelopes and deer, this tooth has a quite 
simple chisel-like crown, like that of the incisors. 
But in the giraffe it is very peculiar: the crown 


GIRAFFE (mite oentisony SAmoTHERIUM 


OKAP). 
CANINE TEETH OF GIRAFFIDA SWATHERIUM. 


Fic. 111.—Front teeth of the lower jaw of the Giraffe and allied 
animals, namely, the Samotherium, the Sivatherium, and 
the Okapi, to show the bilobed or bifoliate broad canine 
tooth with its split crown—only known in animals of the 
giraffe family. 


is divided by a slit into two halves, each of 
which is large and broad. It is described as 
bi-foliate (see Fig. 111). No other mammalian 
animal was known with this peculiar shape of 
this particular tooth among living animals until 
the other day. But a great extinct animal from 
India, the Sivatherium (Fig. 112), with much 


159 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


larger horns than a giraffe, has this same bi- 
foliate canine on each side in the lower jaw 
(Fig. 111), and is shown, by this and other facts 
in its structure, to be clearly related to the living 
giraffe. Another creature from the Miocene strata 


Fic. 112.—Photograph of a restored skull of the Sivatherium 
from the Miocene strata of the Sewalik Hills, India. The 
antler-like branching horns contrast with the corresponding 
simple horns of the giraffe. 


of the isle of Samos—the Samotherium (Fig. 
113)—has also the bifid lower canines, and is 
closely allied to giraffes. The entire skeleton 
of a giraffe-like animal with a moderate length 


160 


THE DISCOVERY OF THE OKAPI 


of neck has been found in Miocene beds in 
Greece, and is called the Helladotherium (Fig. 
114). Naturalists were, therefore, deeply in- 
terested when Sir Harry Johnston obtained, some 
four years ago, from the borders of the Congo 
State where the great Congo forest approaches 
the river Semliki, which separates Congo-land 


k 


Fic. 113.—Photograph of the skull of the Samotherium, a 
giraffe-like animal from the Miocene strata of the Greek 
Island of Samos. 


from Uganda, a skin and two skulls of a new 
animal—the Okapi—which he rightly surmised 
to be a second living genus, or kind, allied to the 
giraffe. I gave the name Okapia to Sir Harry 
Johnston’s new animal; it is stuffed and 
exhibited in the Natural History Museum. Like 
the giraffe, it has paired hoofs and a rather long 
161 M 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


neck, but it is striped on the legs and haunches, 
instead of being spotted. The most decisive point 
about its relationship is found in the canines 
of the lower jaw which, although small in size, 
are bifid or bi-foliate, as are those of the giraffe 


Fic. 114.—Restored skeleton of the giraffe-like animal Hella- 
dotherium, discovered in Miocene strata at Pikermi, near 
Athens, by M. Gaudry. 


(see Fig. 111). Our specimen (Fig. 115)is about 

as bigas a large stag; it has no horns, and is not 

adult. It is probably a female; the male, we 

now know, has a pair of horns (Fig. 116), and is 

extremely close, in the details of its skull, to the 

Samotherium (Fig. 113). Some fifteen speci- 
162 


THE OKAPI 


mens of this new and rare animal have been 
received in Europe since Sir Harry Johnston 
discovered it ; it is probable that there are two 
species, a smaller and a larger, living both in 
the forests of the Congo in the centre of 


Po het = pila > aa = a 

Fic. 115.—Photograph of the specimen of the Okapi (Okapia 
erichsoni) obtained by Sir Harry Johnston near the 
Semliki river in Central Africa. The specimen is a female, 
not fully, grown, and is of the size of a very large donkey. 


Africa. As they live in these immense dark 

gloomy and damp forests they are very difficult 

to shoot or to catch, and moreover they are not 

abundant. The natives cut the striped skin 

into girdles and bands for ornament. Two of 

these were sent home by Sir Harry Johnston 
163 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


before the animal was known, and were described 
as coming from a new species of zebra which 
was named Hquus Johnstoni by Dr. Sclater (see 


Fig. 117). 


1% 


Fic. 116.—Photograph of a skull of a male Okapi, showing the 
simple pointed bony horns like those of the Samotherium. 
The horns were not enclosed in a horny case as are those 
of cattle, sheep and antelopes. 


Some people, on account of the Okapi being 
striped somewhat like a zebra, whilst it has the 
double hoofs of giraffes and also paired horns, 
have supposed that it might be a hybrid or 
‘““mule ”’ between a zebra and a giraffe. This 

164 


NO HYBRIDS IN NATURE 


is, however, a supposition which every naturalist 
knows to be quite out of the bounds of remotest 
probability. It is a fact that “mules” or 
hybrids never are produced by animals living 
in their natural conditions, except in a few rare 
cases among aquatic animals whose eggs are 
fertilized in the water after they have been laid. 


Fic. 117.—Photograph of the two ‘‘ bandoliers ’’ cut from the 
striped part of the skin of an Okapi,which, when sent home 
by Sir Harry Johnston, were at first thought to have been 
cut from the skin of a new kind of zebra. 

And no one has ever produced, even in cap- 

tivity, a hybrid between any creatures so 

unlike each other as a double-hoofed and a 

single-hoofed mammal. 

There are a good many instances in which 
small living animals were represented in the 
past by gigantic forms very close in structure 
to the little living beasts, but of much greater 

165 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


size. Hence it is concluded that these particular 
living animals are the reduced and dwindled 
representatives of a race of primeval monsters. 
There is some truth in this, as you will see from 
the history of the living sloths and armadilloes 
of South America, as compared with the giant 
extinct sloths and armadilloes dug up in that 
country. The same relation is true as to the 
kangaroos and wombats now living in Australia 
as compared with gigantic extinct creatures of 
the same kind (Fig. 182) which are dug up in 
Australia in sands and morasses of late geological 
date. Butitis a great mistake to conclude from 
this that it is a law of Nature that recent animals 
are all small and insignificant as compared with 
their representatives in the past. That is 
simply not true. Recent horses are bigger than 
extinct ones,and much bigger than the three- 
toed and four-toed ancestors of horses. Recent 
elephants are as big as any that have existed, 
and much bigger than the earlier elephantine 
ancestors. There never has been any creature 
of any kind—mammal, reptile, bird, or fish— 
in any geological period we know of, so big as 
some of the existing whales, the Sperm Whale, 
the Great Rorqual, and the Whale-bone whales. 
166 


BEASTS OF MONSTROUS SIZE 


It is true that there were enormous reptiles in the 
past, far larger than any living crocodiles, stand- 
ing fourteen feet at the loins and measuring 
eighty feet from the tip of the snout to the tip 
of the tail; but their bodies did not weigh much 
more than that of a big African elephant and 
were small compared with whales. So let us be 
under no illusions as to extinct monsters, and 
proceed to look at those of South America with 
simple courage and confidence in our own day. 

South America (see the map, Fig. 42) was 
not so long ago a vast island and connected at 
an earlier period with Australia. Later it has 
joined on to North America. Its own peculiar 
productions in the way of animals appear to be 
the members of the group of mammals called 
Edentata—very peculiar forms, with strange 
teeth, and none at all in the front of the jaws. 
From North America, when it joined on there, 
it received the mastodons, horses, tigers, tapirs, 
and other kinds produced in the Holarctic area. 
This seems to have led to the dying out of the 
big kinds of Edentata, and now there are only 
the small tree-sloths (Fig. 118), the small arma- 
dilloes (Fig. 119) and the strange-looking ant- 
eaters. But in quite late geological deposits in 

167 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


South America we find the bones of gigantic 
armadilloes and of gigantic ground sloths, which 


oF 


Photograph of a stuffed specimen of the Two-toed Sloth (Chola- 


pus didactylus) hanging from a branch of a tree. 


Fria. 118. 


lasted on till the time when man appeared on 

the scene, though nowextinct. A great variety 

of large creatures of the kinds known as Edentata 
168 


ARMADILLO 


THE 


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169 


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jo dnowas ouog poyutofun oy], “Boltotuy YINOG UL e7BIS CUTFUO 
uopoyd Ap) poles [BuUtrUB O¥T][-OT[IpwUAIB your 


4xo yeoid oy} JO UOJo[o 


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Say oy} Jo oussozslo[q OY} Woy 


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EXTINCT GIANT ARMADILLOES 


preceded these in earlier geological times in 
South America. 
The Glyptodons (Fig. 120), of which there are 


For the skeleton of the same 


Megatherium giganteum, as big as an elephant, found in the Pleisto- 
animal, see the photograph on p. 7. 


cene gravels of South America. 


Fic. 121.—Probable appearance in life of the Giant Ground Sloth, the 


several different kinds, were enormous arma- 
dilloes, as big as an ox. Like the recent little 


armadilloes they carried a hard case formed by 
ity 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


bones in the skin, but this was not jointed so 
that they could roll up into a ball, as can the 
living armadilloes. 

The Megatherium (Fig. 121) was nearly as big 
asanelephant, and was very closely similar in its 
skeleton and teeth to the little living sloths of 
to-day. But it stood on the ground and pulled 
the trees down in order to eat the tender young 
branches instead of climbing up into the trees 
and living there as the present sloths do. 

Not quite so big as the Megatherium was the 
Mylodon, which lived at the same time. The 
remains of both are found in the comparatively 
recent (Pleistocene) gravels of the Argentine 
Republic. The skeletons of these animals may 
be seen side by side in the Natural History 
Museum. | 

In Fig. 122 is represented the skeleton of the 
Mylodon, and just above it, for comparison, is 
placed the photograph of the skeleton of the 
two-toed sloth. The relative sizes of the two 
are shown and the sloth’s skeleton is placed in 
the same position as that of the extinct Mylodon, 
although in life it is always hanging from the 
branches of trees and never goes on all fours on 
the ground. 


172 


THE MYLODON 


The Mylodon had, we know, a number of 
little bony pieces scattered in its skin in the 


L 


Fic. 122.—The skeleton of Mylodon robustus, one of the giant 
Ground Sloths of the Argentine, about as big as a large 
bull. Above it is placed the skeleton of a recent Tree- 
Sloth for comparison. Both skeletons are reduced to 
the same scale. 


173 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


region of the back, like the pieces forming the 
bony case of the armadilloes and Glyptodons, 
but not fitted closely together. It was sup- 
posed that the Mylodon, like all the gigantic 
Edentata of South America, had long ceased 
to exist and was extinct as long ago as the 
mammoth and the woolly rhinoceros of our 


Fic. 123.—View, looking outwards, from the mouth of the 
cavern on the fiord of the Ultima Speranza in Southern 
Patagonia, in which have been found the skin and hair 
and the bones with cartilage, blood and tendon and the 
dung of the Mylodon and other animals, proving its 
co-existence with man and its survival until a period 
estimated variously at fifty or a thousand years ago. 


own country. But about seven years ago a 
traveller (Dr. Nordenskj6ld) found in Patagonia, 
at the end of a fiord near the Chilian coast, a 
vast cavern (Fig. 123), and from this cavern the 
white settlers living in a farm close by had re- 
moved an enormous piece of skin (Fig. 124) 
covered with greenish-brown hair and studded on 
174 


FRESH REMAINS OF MYLODON 


its inner side with little knobs of bone (Fig. 125) ! 
The skin was dry, but undecomposed, and when 
soaked in water gave out the smell of decom- 
posing animal matter. It was evidently a piece 
of the skin of a Mylodon which had survived in 


Fic. 124.—Photograph of a piece of the skin of the Mylodon 
(also called Grypotherium darwini) showing the coarse 
greenish-coloured hair. From a specimen found in the 
cave of the Ultima Speranza in South-west Patagonia. 

this region until modern times! Further ex- 

plorations were made in the cavern by Dr. 

Moreno, of the Museum of La Plata, and by other 

persons, and as a result an immense quantity of 

bones were obtained and more portions of 


175 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


the skin of Mylodon with the hair on. The 
cavern had been inhabited probably several 
centuries ago by Indians, and human bones as 


99 


well as “ forks ” made out of dogs’ bones (Fig. 


126) were obtained. The remains of as many as 


Fic. 125.—The under side of the same piece of skin as that 
shown in Fig. 124. It shows the small oval ossicles 
scattered in the deep substance of the skin. 


twenty Mylodons have been obtained from the 

cavern, and many of the bones have been cut 

or broken by human agency, the inhabitants of 

the cave having fed upon the Mylodons and 

split the bones to obtain the marrow! Some 

of the Mylodon bones, skulls, jaw-bones, leg- 
176 


THE FRESH REMAINS OF MYLODON 


Fic. 126.—Photograph of various specimens found with the 
remains of the Mylodon in the Ultima Speranza cave. 
1. The lower end of the humerus (upper arm bone) of a 
very large jaguar (felis onca). 2. Molar tooth of an 
extinct horse (Onohippidium). 3. End of femur of a 
huge rat (Megamys). 4. Upper jaw of guanacho 
(Auchenia). 5. Molar tooth of same. 6. Lower end of 
lowest leg-bone of the rhea. 7. Foot-bone of the jaguar. 
8. Hoof-bone of the fossil horse. 9, 10, 11. Dung of the 
Mylodon. 12, 13. Two bones of a Dog, with ends 
sharpened by human agency. 14. Distorted human 
shoulder-blade, probably of a woman. 


bones, etc., are smeared with blood and the 

soft tendon and membrane are still attached. 

The cartilage at the end of the long bones is still 
177 N 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


in place, dried and cracked in the drying. Not 
only that, but great balls of dung were found 
made up of the remains of masticated grass, 


Fie. 127.—Photograph of remains of Mylodon from the cave 
of the Ultima Speranza. 1. Shaft of tibia. 2. Bone ofa 
claw. 3, 4, 5, 6. Claws (horny). 7, 8. Rudimentary 
toe bones. 9, 10. Cervical vertebrae. 11. Lower end 
of scapula. 12, 13. Broken bones. 


indicating that the Mylodons lived in the cave. 

Moreover, a very large quantity of cut grass 

was found in the cave, and it has been surmised 
178 


MYLODONS LIVING IN THE CAVE 


that the Indians kept the Mylodons alive in the 
cavern and fed them with hay brought in from 
the outside. Specimens of these objects and 
of others to be mentioned below are now in the 


3 


Fic. 128.—Photograph of a *‘ barrel-full of bones’? obtained 
by prospectors from the cave of Ultima Speranza, three 
years after the first finds, and offered for sale to the 
Natural History Museum. Unfortunately it was not 
possible to send a reply to the owners in time, and the 
collection was dispersed. Skulls, jaws, and other bones of 
Mylodon are to be seen as well as a large skull of a jaguar, 
and bones and teeth of horses. 


Natural History Museum, and some idea of their 
number and variety may be formed from the 
photographs reproduced in Figs. 126 to 131. 
Besides the remains of the Mylodons and of 
179 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


man—all lying loosely covered by a greater or 
less depth of blown sand, and in some parts by 
chopped hay—the cavern has yielded bones and 
teeth and many horny hoofs of horses, appar- 


ently belonging to the extinct and very peculiar 


ne -* a+ tes “Leek ana rr ey 3 ; AF 
Fic. 129.—Photograph having the same history as that 
shown in Fig. 128. 


South American genus Onohippidium, the skull 

and bones of a very large kind of jaguar, the 

skull of a young lama, and bones of other kinds. 

We have not yet a full account of all that has 

been found in the cave, nor have the contents, 
180 


THE CAVE OF THE MYLODONS 


unfortunately, been removed with sufficient 
care to enable us to say which were lying more 
deeply in the sand and which were at a higher 
level and therefore more recently living. The 
cavern is in a very remote spot and seems to 


Fie. 130.—Photograph of three pellets of the dung of the 
Mylodon from the cave of Ultima Speranza. 


offer some peculiar difficulties to explorers, for 

neither Sir Thomas Holditch nor Mr. Hesketh 

Pritchard, the latter of whom started for the 

purpose, succeeded in reaching it. It is stated 

that there are other caverns of a similar nature 
181 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


in the neighbourhood. A great peculiarity about 
the occurrence of the remains of animals in this 
cavern is due to the fact that it hasa dry sandy 
bottom. The bones are not embedded in 


Fic. 131.—Photographs of the leg-bone (tibia) of Mylodon, 
from the cave of Ultima Speranza, to show the dried and 
cracked cartilage on the ends (articular surfaces) of the 
bones. 


b) 


*‘ stalagmite ” as is the case in the bone-caves 
of England and France, and whilst they are 
quite unaltered and full of animal matter, the 
horny and tendinous parts of many of the 
animals, such as skin, hair, claws and hoofs, and 


182 


WHEN WERE THE MYLODONS ALIVE? 


the soft dung of the Mylodon, are preserved un- 
changed. It is quite certain that in any known 
cavern in Europe such remains would be 
destroyed in the course of fifty years by putre- 
factive bacteria, and were the conditions too dry 
for that process to continue, the remains would 
have been consumed by scavenger beetles and 
other insects within the like period. The 
climate of South Patagonia, where the cavern 
exists, is similar to that of Devonshire. It isa 
moist climate, although the cavern itself is not 
damp nor subject to inundation by streams. 
There is nothing in the sandy soil of a preser- 
vative nature, and it seems at first sight impos- 
sible to suppose that the soft dried remains, 
skin, claws, blood, etc., can be more than fifty 
years old. Yet the horses’ hoofs and bones seem 
to belong to the extinct Onohippidium, and 
there is no record or tradition among the present 
race of Indians (in spite of some statements to the 
contrary) of any huge beast corresponding to 
the Mylodon. Altogether the case is a very 
puzzling one, and excites a very eager desire for 
further exploration. A noticeable fact bearing 
on the matter is that the whole of the southern 
part of South America has been submerged 
183 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


rapidly and has rapidly risen again and is still 
rising at the rate of two feet a year in some parts, 
within the late Pleistocene period. Possibly 
the rocks and high lands where the Mylodon 
cavern occurs formed an island during the 
submergence where a number of individuals of 
the earlier fauna took refuge and survived until 
the re-elevation of the land, and so lived on in 
the present condition of the land surface until 
fifty or a hundred years ago. Possibly, though 
by no means probably, the Mylodon is still 
living in similar caverns in this region, as yet 
unvisited by man. 

In Australia, the land of the marsupials or 
pouched mammals, the bones of gigantic crea- 
tures have been found belonging to that 
peculiar tribe. Giant kangaroos, twice as tall 
as any living kangaroos, are thus known. But 
there are also remains of some extraordinary 
animals, like wombats and koalas, only as big 
as the largest rhinoceros or a small elephant. 
One of these is the Diprotodon of Owen, known 
to him by its skull and the rest of the 
skeleton, excepting the feet. The skullis drawn 
in Fig. 132 with a human skull beside it to give 
ascale. In Fig. 133 is given Owen’s restoration 

184 


GIANT BEASTS FROM AUSTRALIA 


of the complete skeleton with the exception of 
the feet. These have now been found by Dr. 
Stirling, of South Australia. A number of com- 
plete skeletons of this huge beast were found 


embedded in the mud of a great lake or morass. 


(ij >») ¢ 
: _y!] 
oe 
\ engi 


Rou i 


Fie. 132.—Drawing of the skull of the Giant Australian 
Marsupial, Diprotodon, preserved in the Natural History 
Museum. By its side is placed a drawing, to the same 
seale, of a human skull. 


In the photograph (Fig. 134) the lake is shown, 
and one of the great skeletons is seen in the 
foreground. The bones were in a very friable 
state, but Dr. Stirling has succeeded in pre- 
serving them and has secured the complete feet. 
In Fig. 135 the right hind-foot is shown. It 


185 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


is expected that the complete skeleton will be 
put together and exhibited in the Natural 
History Museum before very long. 


Fie. 133.—The restoration of the skeleton of Diprotodon, as 
drawn by the late Sir Richard Owen. It will be observed 
that the feet were not known when this drawing was made. 


The oldest remains of mammals, which we 
know of, are found in the Oolitic and Triassic 
strata and consist of very small lower jawbones 


with their teeth, embedded in very fine-textured 
186 


AUSTRALIAN MONSTERS 


rock. It is usually held, on account of the form 
of the angle of the jawbones, that they belonged 
to small marsupial mammals. They are very 
small, few of them as much as an inch in length, 
and one of them we have already seen in Fig. 


Fie. 134:—Photograph of the morass or lake in South 
Australia in which the remains of several specimens of 
Diprotodon have been recently discovered. One of, the 
skeletons is seen lying in the mud in the foreground. 


57 enlarged to ten times its natural length. 

It is probably due to their density and hardness 

that the little jaw-bones- have been embedded 

and preserved in these ancient rocks, whilst the 

rest of the skeleton is lost to us. The first 
187 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


specimens of jaw-bones of this age were obtained 
seventy years ago in the Stonesfield Slate near 
Oxford by two undergraduates of the University, 
and it was at first supposed, on account of their 
occurring in such ancient rock as the Oolite 


Fic. 135.—View of the upper surface of the right hind-foot of 
Diprotodon, as discovered by Professor Stirling of Ade- 
laide, South Australia. The left-hand figure has the 
astragalus (ankle-bone) removed, whilst it is in place in 
the right-hand figure. 


(see list of strata on page 60) that they must 

be jawbones of lizards. Soon, however, the 

fact was noticed that the teeth had double 

fangs, and it became clear from this, as well as 

the shape of the jaws and teeth, that they had 
188 


MAMMALS OF THE MESOZOIC PERIOD 


belonged to small mammals. In Fig. 136 two 
of these very ancient mammalian jaws are 
figured. 


Fic. 136.—Lower jaws of the ancient Mammals, Dromatherium 
(upper—Trias), and Dryolestes (lower—Jurassic), mag- 
nified about 24 times linear. 


CEP TER Wy 


THE GREAT EXTINCT REPTILES—DINOSAURS 
FROM THE OOLITES—THE PARIASAURUS 
AND INOSTRANSEVIA FROM THE TRIAS OF 
NORTH RUSSIA AND SOUTH AFRICA—MARINE 
REPTILES. 


N the next two chapters I propose briefly 
to bring before you a few examples 

of extinct reptiles, birds and fishes, and to 
take the very shortest glance at the host of 
invertebrate shell-fish, insects, star-fishes and 
such like extinct animals whose name is legion. 
We will proceed at once to the reptiles. You 
will see from the list of groups of reptiles which 
I gave to you in a former chapter (p. 58) that 
there are four big orders or groups of living 
reptiles: (1) the Crocodiles ; (2) the Tortoises 
(Chelonians); (3) the Lizards; and (4) the 
Snakes. The lizards and snakes are in their 
real structure so much alike that they are con- 

190 


EXTINCT REPTILES 


sidered as one double order. Extinct repre- 
sentatives of all these orders are found right 
away down through the Mesozoic strata to the 
Trias (see table of strata, p. 60). But there is 
nothing very astonishing about them excepting 
the large size of some of the extinct tortoises 
and snakes, and the fact that the older extinct 
crocodiles had the opening of the nose-passages 
into the mouth-openings, which we and all air- 
breathing vertebrates also possess, placed far 
forward as they are in the more primitive air- 
breathers, whereas living crocodiles have them 
pushed ever so far back to the very furthest 
recess of the long ferocious mouth, from which 
arrangement it results that the modern crocodile 
can have its mouth full holding the body of a 
victim under water whilst the air passes from the 
tip of its nose through the long nasal passage 
to the very back of its mouth and so to its 
lungs. This convenience was not enjoyed by 
primitive crocodiles. 

The great interest in regard to extinct reptiles 
centres in those which were so entirely different 
from the reptiles of to-day that naturalists have 
to make separate orders for them. Many of 
them were of huge size. They flourished in the 

191 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


Mesozoic period and abruptly died out; at any 
rate their remains disappear from the rocks at 
the close of the Chalk or Cretaceous period (see 
the table of strata, p. 60). These extinct 
orders of reptiles are the Dinosaurs, the Thero- 
morphs, the Ichthyosaurs, the Plesiosaurs and 
the Pterodactyles. They are a prominent 
example of that kind of extinct animal which is 
not the forefather, so to speak, of living ani- 
mals, but of which the whole race, the whole 
order, has passed away, leaving no descendants 
either changed or unchanged. 

To begin with the Dinosaurs. They are a 
very varied group and mostly were of great size. 
They seem to have occupied in many ways the 
same sort of place on the earth’s surface which 
was filled at a later period by the great mam- 
mals, such as elephants, rhinoceroses, giraffes, 
giant kangaroos, etc. Preying on the vege- 
table-feeding kinds there were huge carnivorous 
dinosaurs, representing the lions and tigers of 
to-day. Yet the mammals I have mentioned 
are in no way descended from these great 
reptiles. They came from another stock, and 
only superseded them on the face of the earth 
by a slow process of development, in which the 

192 


NEW ZEALAND TUA-TARA 


THE 


‘OZIS [BANZVU OY} JO pALYJ-o0UO SI oINSYy oy, ‘sngnj~ound uopouaydg se uMOUy 
‘B1Eq-BNT, PlVZI'T puvlwoz MON oY} JO ofl] WOAy UOye, YSvo eV Jo yYdeadojoyG—/ET “DI 


193 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


great reptiles disappeared and the great mam- 
mals gradually appeared and took their place. 
Some of the forms assumed by the great 


Photographed one half the natural size. 


Toad), 


_Fia. 138.—Phrynosoma orbiculare (Mexican Horned Lizard or Horned 


Dinosaurian reptiles are not unlike the forms 

of the small scaly lizards of to-day (see Figs. 

137, 138, 139, 140); but on the whole the Dino- 

saurs were more like mammals in shape, stand- 
194 


THE CHLAMYDOSAUR 


-9U0 0} poydeasoqoy,g 


‘OZIS [eInyBU OY} paIyy 
‘BIyerysny ‘puBlsuson?) urory “bury snunvsophunjyo—6el ‘OIL 


195 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


jo ozIs oy} jrey poydeasojoyg 


“( 


oanyeu 
prezry popparg yeory) snaquphrbh snanuoz—'oFT “OI 


196 


THE GREAT DINOSAURS 


ing well up on the legs. We do not know much 
about their skin; it was probably smooth and 
with only small horny scales on it, as in many 
living lizards, and often had great horns and 
crests growing out of it. But we know the 


Fic. 141.—Drawing of the skeleton of Iguanodon bernissar- 
tensis. From the ground to the top of the head as the 
animal is posed, is about fourteen feet. 


complete skeletons put together from bones 

chiselled out of the hard rock in which they are 

found, and we know that in important matters 

of shape and build the skeleton was different 

from that of living reptiles. The great size to 

which some of the Dinosauria attained is 
197 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


shown by the thigh-bone of one found in the 
United States, and called Atlantosaurus—photo- 


Fra. 142.—Probable appearance of the Iguanodon in its living condition. 


graphed in Fig. 6, p. 11. This thigh-bone is 
one third as long again as that of the biggest 
elephant known. 

198 


THE IGUANODON 


In Fig. 141 is shown the complete skeleton 


of the Iguanodon. 


This great Dinosaur was one 


of the first to be discovered. As you see, it stood 


on its hind legs like a kangaroo, and in running 


occasionally went on those feet only, touching 


the ground now and 


then with its front 
feet. Footprints in 
slabs of sandstone, 


once soft wet sand, are 


found showing | this. 
The animal stood about 
fourteen feet from the 
head to the ground in 
the position shown in 
the figure. Its thigh 
bone was only three 
feet long and it was 
therefore only half the 
size, in linear measure- 
ment, of the Atlanto- 


Saurus. 


Fia. 143.—Two teeth of Igua- 
nodon mantelli of the 
natural size, showing the 
serrated margin. 


In Fig. 142 an attempt is made to show what 


the animal looked like when the skeleton was 


clothed with flesh and skin. 


The first bones 


and teeth of the Iguanodon were found seventy 
199 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


years ago by a celebrated and most delightful 
collector and explorer of the earth’s crust, Dr. 
Gideon Mantell, in the strata known as the 
Wealden in Sussex, just below the Chalk and 
Greensand (see table of strata). Dr. Mantell 
found that the teeth, of which two are here 
represented of the natural size, were those of a 


Fic. 144.—A portion of the upper jaw of the recent lizard 
Iguana, showing the serrated edges of the teeth, similar to 
those of Iguanodon. 


herbivorous animal and like those of the little 
living lizard from South America, called the 
Iguana, in the fact that the broad chisel-like 
crown has a saw-like edge (Fig. 144). From 
this fact the name Iguanodon (Iguana-toothed) 
was given to the new fossil giant reptile. The 
bones found by Mantell and others were scat- 
tered and not in their natural position and the 
200 


THE IGUANODON 


form of the creature had to be cuessed at by 
fitting this and that together. But some 
twenty-five years ago a wonderful find was 
made near Brussels in a coal-mine at a village 
called Bernissart. The skeletons of no less than 
twenty-two huge Iguanodons were found com- 
plete, and embedded in a fairly soft clay-like 
rock! The authorities of the Government 
Museum took charge of the place and most care 
fully removed the rock containing the skeletons 
to the Museum workshops at Brussels, where 
the complete skeletons of seven were, with 
enormous difficulty and care, removed bit by 
bit from the rock and set up as entire skeletons 
in the Brussels Museum, where they may be seen. 
A cast of one of these seven isin our own Natural 
History Museum. The photograph of the skull 
of one of these specimens is given in Fig. 145, It 
shows not only the teeth in position, but in 
front the bony supports of a great horny beak, 
like that of a turtle. As you may see in the 
drawing of the skeleton (Fig. 142), the forefeet 
(or hands) were provided with five fingers, of 
which the thumb had a huge claw on it at least 
a foot long. The foot was very much like that 
of a bird and had only three toes, and the bones 
201 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


of the pelvis or hip-girdle are extraordinarily 
like those of a bird. In fact it is now certain 
that reptiles similar to the Iguanodon were the 
stock from which birds have been derived, the 
front limb having become probably first a 


f ee . ‘ = 
: PRA i 


Fic. 145.—Photograph of the skull of an Iguanodon as dug 
out of the rock, showing the teeth of the lower jaw and the 
smooth bony supports for the horny beak of both upper 
and lower jaw. The specimen is three feet in length. 


swimming flipper or paddle, and then later an 
organ for beating the air and raising the creature 
out of the water for a brief flight. From such a 
beginning came the feather-bearing wing of 
modern birds. 

Fig. 146 shows the skeleton of a Dinosaur of 


202 


MEGALOSAURUS 


THE 


“SnINBSOl[B 


SS SOS) S . 


‘MOpOURNST OY} JO OZIS OY} SpaTYyy-OMY Jog’ svM TeWUITUR Ol, 
Sow oy} ‘ANVsoulC] SNOAOATUIVO B JO UOJoTOHNS OY JO SUTMVIG— ‘OFT “OTT 


[o> 


ANG 
SS 
ENN 


ap) 
N 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


somewhat less size but with the same kangaroo- 
like carriage, which was a beast of prey. It is 
the Megalosaurus, and had many tiger-like 
teeth in its jaws. It hunted down and fed upon 
the herbivorous Dinosaurs as lions and tigers 
hunt and eat antelopes and buffalo to-day. 
By no means all the Dinosaurs walked on their 
hind legs. There were enormous kinds which 
went on all fours. Here is the skeleton of the 
Brontosaurus (Fig. 147) and a sketch of its 
appearance in life (Fig. 148). The great Ceteo- 
saurus, of which the limb bones and most of the 
skeleton were found near Oxford, is similar to 
this,and Mr. Andrew Carnegie has presented to 
the Natural History Museum a complete re- 
construction of the skeleton of a closely allied 
Dinosaur—the Diplodocus—which was _ exca- 
vated in Wyoming and is now in the Carnegie 
Institute at Pittsburg. It is eighty feet long. 
Its head is very small, and a great part of the 
length is made up by the very long neck and the 
very long tail, but the body is bigger than that 
of the biggest elephant and the back was nearly 
fourteen feet from the ground. 

The immense profusion in which the bones 
of these huge creatures have been found in 

204 


THE BRONTOSAURUS 


‘SuIdoo4s YNoyYIM yoou oy} Aopun ssoy oy} JO QUOAZ UT YTV p[Noo ueUL 


Vo tey pue peoy oy) jo YASUE, yeors oy} puR [[Nys oYyZ jo ozIs [[euIs AToWIOIyxO 


oy} 9J0N 


MoS 


‘snainesoyuorg oyy"fo UoyI[oys poroysor AjToqoTduroo B JO SuIMBIGQU—'L FT “917 


A 


Ue Ws 
oe 


MS 
x SS 


AN 
28 


Qe 

ue 
ee 

BS 


ile) 
N 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


Mesozoic strata in the United States is astonish- 
ing; no less remarkable is the skill and success 
with which American naturalists—chief among 
whom have been Professor Marsh of Yale and 
Professor Cope of Philadelphia—have collected, 


Fic, 148. 
closely similar Diplodochus and Brontosaurus) in life. It 
has been suggested that the animal walked along the sea 
or river bottom keeping its head just above water. Speci- 
mens of over sixty feet in length have been found. 


fitted together and drawn every detail of more 

than thirty different kinds of these monsters. 

They have given such full evidence of the 

structure and build of the animals that we may 

with confidence accept the reconstructions of 

the appearance of the animals such as those 
206 


THE TRICERATOPS 


‘SOLQDOUTYY SUTATT YSOSAB] 9YZ JO OzIS Oy JO SBM 
ayydea styy, ‘(Adoystp_ YeangeN Jo wmMosny UBoltoury oy} Aq ponsst Jopout B 40948) 
sdozes0LLy, ‘anesourqy pouroy-saayy ayy Jo oftT Ut soUBAvodde 944 Jo SuImMeIq@—'6FT 


oT 


207 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


shown in Figs. 149 and 150, where the rhino- 
ceros-like Triceratops and the huge crested 
Stegosaurus are represented. Such crests and 
horns are bizarre and grotesque even when 
carried by little living lizards a few inches long, 


Fie. 150.—Probable appearance in life of the Jurassic Dinosaur 
Stegosaurus. The hind leg alone is twice as tall as a well- 
grown man. 


but it must be remembered that the Dinosaurs 
drawn in Figs. 149 and 150 were as big in the 
body as large elephants. 

A curious fact about these great Dinosaurs is 
that they had, as compared with big living 
reptiles such as the crocodiles, very tiny brains. 

208 


THE BRAIN OF DINOSAURS 


You will remember that the extinct mammals 
known as Titanotherium and Dinoceras have 
brains one-eighth the bulk of living mammals 
of the same size, such as rhinoceros and hippo- 
potamus. So it was with the huge extinct 
reptiles. In some the head itself was ridicu- 
lously small according to our notions of cus- 
tomary proportion, and even in others, such as 
Triceratops, where the bony and muscular 
parts of the head were big, as in a rhinoceros, 
yet the brain was incredibly small. It could 
have been passed all along the spinal canal in 
which the spinal cord lies, and was in proportion 
to bulk of body a tenth the size of that of a 
crocodile.‘ Very probably this small size of the 
brain of great extinct animals has to do with 
the fact of their ceasing to exist. Animals with 
bigger and ever increasing brains outdid them 
in the struggle for existence.” 

So much for the Dinosaurs, which might 
well occupy a complete course of lectures all to 
themselves. We will now turn to the Thero- 
morphs, which are an older group even than the 
Dinosaurs and flourished in the Trias period 
(see table of strata, p. 60). The Thero- 
morphs are so called because in some important 

209 P 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


parts of the structure of skull and jaw, and often 
also in the teeth, they resemble the mammals or 
Theria. They come near to a point in the 
history of terrestrial vertebrate beasts which is 
the common origin of Reptiles, Mammals and 
Batrachia or Amphibians (newts, salamanders 
and frogs). 

Their remains have been found in the Triassic 
sandstones and limestones of South Africa, of 
Russia, of India and of Scotland and the centre 
of England. One of the most striking of these 
is represented by a completely reconstructed 
skeleton from Cape Colony in the Natural His- 
tory Museum, photographed in Fig. 151. The 
skeleton is some eight feet long and looks like 
a gigantic pug-dog. This is the Pariasaurus, 
and is shown by its small teeth to have been 
herbivorous. 

From the same locality we have the Dicyno- 
don with two huge tusks, and the Cynognathus 
with a skull and set of teeth wonderfully re- 
calling those of a bear at first sight. 

Another strange crested form belonging here 
is the Dimetrodon from the Permian strata of 
‘Texas, U.S.A. (Fig. 152). 

But I am now able to show you, through the 


210 


THE PARIASAURUS 


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211 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


kindness of Professor Amalitzky, of Warsaw, 
a set of photographs taken by him, showing the 
discovery and working out by him of a whole 


series of skeletons of these Theromorph reptiles, 
closely similar to those from the rocks of Cape 


[het oS awe OS eA eee 


Fie. 152.—Probable appearance in life of the Theromorph 
Reptile, Dimetrodon, from the Permian of Texas. As big 
as a large dog. 


Colony but belonging to a locality far removed 

from South Africa, namely, to the banks of the 

Northern Dwina near Archangel in North 

Russia. Professor Amalitzky has not yet 

finished his excavations nor published these 
212 


THE BANKS OF THE DWINA 


photographs, and it is therefore a great kindness 
on his part to allow me to show them here in 
London. 


First of all, we have the cliff of Permian strata 
on the banks of the Dwina (Fig. 153), from 


Fic. 153.—View of one of the dark patches in the cliffs of the 
river Dwina (the Northern of that name), where nodules 
containing the skeletons of extinct reptiles are found. 


which and from another similar spot the remains 
were extracted. At this point, where the colour 
is dark in the photograph, there is a peculiar 
“pocket” or accumulation of sandy matter 
with large hard nodules embedded in it. These 
nodules are removed and broken up for mending 


219 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


the roads. The pocket seems to be in a fissure 
and of Triassic age, later, that is to say, than 
the Permian rocks on each side of it. However 
that may be, the great nodules are removed 
from it for road mending, and four or five years 
ago Professor Amalitzky on visiting the spot 
was astounded and delighted to find that when 
broken each nodule was seen to contain the 
skeleton or skull of a great reptile. Fig. 154 


Fic. 154.—One of the nodules showing the form of the em- 
bedded skeleton, head to the right, tail to the left. 
shows such a nodule, some eight feet long, and 
in this specimen one can easily distinguish the 
skull, the four limbs and the backbone of a 
large animal. The Russian geologist determined 
to make a most thorough investigation of this 
wonderful deposit, and for some years now has 
spent a thousand pounds a year, obtained for 
214 


REPTILES FOUND IN NODULES 


the purpose through the Imperial Academy of 
St. Petersburg, in having the nodules dug out 
by the peasants after their farming work is over 
for the year, and in removing them to the 
University of Warsaw, where with the finest 


Fic. 155.—Peasants working on the face of the cliff near 
Archangel and removing nodules containing the skeletons 
of great reptiles. 


instruments and greatest care the nodules are 
opened and each bone removed in fragments is 
put together from its more or less broken parts, 
firmly cemented and set up in its natural position 
and relations as part of a complete skeleton. 


215 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


Fig. 155 shows the peasants at work, protected 
by a shed from the fall of stones from above. 
Fig. 156 shows some of the nodules as yet 
unopened lying in the laboratory of the geologi- 
cal professor at Warsaw. Fig. 157 shows a 


Fre. 156.—Professor Amalitzky’s work-shop in Warsaw, 
showing skeleton-holding nodules ready to be broken 
open and others already under preparation. 


- number of skeletons of the huge but harmless 

vegetarian Pariasaurus which have been cleared 

out of the nodules and set up on iron supports, 

as more or less complete specimens. Of course 

it is not possible in every individual to get out 
216 


PARIASAURUS SKELETONS 


all the bones complete, especially those of the 
feet. Few of the individuals were complete 
even when originally embedded in the mud 
ages ago. When an animal’s body is carried 
away by ariver and floats in a decomposing 
state it tends to fall to pieces. 


a ale 


Fic. 157.—A series of siecle tons of Peas removed bit by 
bit from Archangel nodules and mounted as detached 
specimens by Professor Amalitzky. 

The cliff formed by the present river Dwina 
consists of rocks of immense, indeed of almost 
inconceivable, age, and existed as solid rock ages 
and ages before the surface of the earth had its 
present form. These deep-lying rocks have 
been brought near to the surface by bending of 

257, 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


the strata (as shown in Fig. 36, p. 52), and 
the cutting or cliff made by the comparatively 
modern river exposes them to our view and to 
easy excavation. The nodules are relatively 
to the age of the river-valley or cutting 
(which is probably some 150,000 thousand 


Fic. 158.—Photograph of a skeleton of Pariasaurus, removed 
from an enveloping nodule and mounted by Professor 
Amalitzky. 


years old), as much older than it is as are 
Roman coins older than the trench dug three 
hours ago which brings them to lght. HI 
you look at the position of the Trias and Per- 
mian in the table of strata you will get some 
idea of how immensely remote is the time when 
these great reptiles lived where now is Arch- 
218 


SPECIMENS OF PARIASAURUS 


angel, for whilst the thickness of a twentieth 
of an inch suffices to indicate the accumulations 
of strata since the mammoth lived in England, 
the Trias is a long way down the series, far 
below the Eocene, where the ancestral elephants 
of Egypt are found, far below the Chalk, and 


Fre. 159.—Photograph by Professor Amalitzky on a larger 

seale of a skull of a Pariasaurus from an Archangel nodule. 
older than the long Jurassic series of rocks in 
which the remains of the great Dinosaurs we 
have recently looked at, occur. 

In Fig. 158 one of Professor Amalitzky’s 
specimens of Pariasaurus is shown. There is 
no artificial completing of this skeleton: all 
that is seen is actual bone as cleaned out of a 

219 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


nodule. Only one foot is preserved, but that of 
course tells us as to its fellow of the opposite 
side. The skull of another specimen of Paria- 
saurus is shown in Fig. 159. It is very remark- 
able that this species seems to be so closely 
similar to the one discovered far away in South 
Africa in beds of the same age. 


Fic. 160.—Skeleton of a huge carnivorous beast of prey-—the 
reptile named Inostransevia, discovered and _ photo- 
graphed by Professor Amalitzky of Warsaw. The skull 
alone is two feet in length. 


These Pariasaurs were about as big as well 
grown cattle, but not so high on the legs. 
In Fig. 160 we have the skeleton of another 
creature revealed by these nodules. It is an 
enormous and truly terrible carnivor, with a 

220 


INOSTRANSEVIA, THE CARNIVOR 


skull two feet long and enormous tiger-like teeth. 
This creature is named Inostransevia by Pro- 
fessor Amalitzky, and is larger than any of the 
carnivorous reptiles from South Africa. Speci- 
mens of its skull are shown in the Professor’s 
photographs reproduced in Figs. 161 and 162. 


Fic. 161.—Skull of the gigantic Theromorph Carnivorous 
Reptile, Inostransevia discovered by Professor Amalitzky 
in Northern Russia. It is allied to Lycosaurus found in 
Cape Colony in beds of the same age. 


No doubt the vegetarian herds of Pariasaurus, 

whose small peg-like teeth indicate clearly 

enough their inoffensive habits, were preyed 

upon by the terrible Inostransevia, as were 

their brethren in South Africa devoured by the 

Cynognathus, the Lycosaurus, the Cynodraco 
221 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


and other carnivorous reptiles of that remote 
Triassic age. So we see the co-existence of blood- 
sucker and victim—of the destructive oppressor 
and the helpless oppressed—forced on our 
attention in these two localities, Russia and 


Fie. 162.—Photograph of another skull of Inostransevia. 


South Africa, when we study the immensely 
remote past of the Triassic age. 

We leave now these great extinct land-dwell- 
ing reptiles and take a glance at representatives 
of two extinct orders of huge aquatic creatures 
which must also be classified as reptiles. These 
are the Plesiosauria and the Ichthyosauria. 
Though some of them must have measured 
thirty feet from snout to tail, they do not equal 


222 


PLESIOSAURS 


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223 


SARaie 
Pe le 


the great aquatic mammals of to-day, the 


in size 
whales. 
In Fig. 163 is shown the photograph of the 


skeleton of a large Plesiosaur, and in Fig. 164 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


is given a drawing showing how the creature 
appeared in life. It had a body like the hull of 
a submarine with four paddles attached, the 
fore- and the hind-legs. It had a long neck 
like that of a swan and an elongated head pro- 


Fre. 164.—Plesiosaurus as it probably appeared when alive, 
swimming near the surface of the water with its back 
showing and its neck and head raised above the surface.’ 


vided with powerful jaws armed with numerous 

pointed teeth. It probably could swim under 

water as well as on the surface, and when in the 

latter position could snap small lizards and birds 

from the land. The paddles have the definite 

structure of legs, with five toes, wrist or ankle 
224 


ICHTHYOSAURS 


and fore-arm or fore-leg and upper arm or 
thigh. A great number of kinds of these 
Plesiosaurs have been discovered, especially in 
the Lias rocks of the South of England, slabs 
containing whole skeletons being frequently 
obtained. They and the similarly embedded 
and flattened skeletons of different kinds of 


—Photograph of a skeleton of the large-paddled 
Ichthyosaurus preserved in Liassic rock. 


Fie. 165. 


Ichthyosauria may be seen in quantity on the 
walls of the gallery of fossil reptiles in the 
Natural History Museum. 

In Fig. 165 the flattened skeleton of an 
Ichthyosaurus is photographed. This particular 
species is remarkable for the great size of its 
fore-paddles. 


to 

to 
on 
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EXTINCT ANIMALS 


In Fig. 166 a drawing of an Ichthyosaurus, 
as it must have appeared in life, isgiven. The 
Ichthyosaurs are much more fish-like or rather 
whale-like in form than the Plesiosaurs. They 
were indeed singularly like the porpoises and 


Fic. 166.—Drawing to show the probable appearance of an 
Ichthyosaurus swimming beneath the surface of the sea. 


erampuses among living whales and stand in 

the same relation to land-living reptiles that 

the porpoises do to land-living mammals. Their 

fish-like appearance and fins are not primitive 

characters and do not indicate any closer blood- 

relationship to fishes than that possessed by 
226 


ICHTHYOSAURS 


other reptiles. They are the offspring of four- 
legged terrestrial reptiles which have become 
specially modified and adapted to submarine 
life. Like many whales they had a median 
fin on the back devoid of bony support. The 
bones of their legs have become greatly changed, 
much more so than those of the Plesiosaurs 
and form often more than five rows of nearly 
circular or polygonal plates fitted together as 
a flexible paddle. The tail is fish-like, but has 
the lower lobe bigger than the upper and the 
vertebral column bends down into the lower 
lobe instead of turning up into the wpper lobe 
as it does in fish. The details as to the fins are 
known from some wonderfully preserved speci- 
mens found in the fine hardened mud known as 
the lithographic slate of Solenhofen, where the 
soft bodies of jelly-fish, cuttle-fishes and the 
wings of flying reptiles also are preserved. 

As mentioned in the first chapter, the Ichthyo- 
sauria (see Fig. 2) had a ring of bony plates 
supporting the eye-ball (as birds also have), 
and these are often preserved in the fossil 
specimens. In Fig. 168 a view of the top of 
the skull of an Ichthyosaurus is given in order 
to show the round hole in the middle line of 


227 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


the brain-case (on a level with the letter P). 
This is called the “ parietal foramen,” and is 
a fair-sized hole in which was lodged an eye, a 


Fia. 167.—Photograph of the upper surface of the skull of an 

Ichthyosaurus. Ona level with the letter P in the middle 

~ of the skull is seen an oval pit, the ‘* parietal foramen ”’ in 
which was lodged the “‘ third ” or “‘ pineal ’’ eye. 


third eye called the pineal eye. This eye is 
found in some other reptiles also, and especially 


228 


ICHTHYOSAURS AND COPROLITES 


in some of the living lizards where its structure 
has been studied with the microscope. There 
is no doubt that the body filling this hole in 
living lizards is an eye, although it seems to 
have lost the power of sight in these recent 
forms. <A third eye, placed on the top of the 
head strikes one as a very strange arrangement 
and contrary to all our common experience of 
vertebrate animals. 


Yj 
ty, 


Fic. 168.—Side view of the skeleton of an Ichthyosaurus. 
Below the skeleton is drawn a “ coprolite ” showing spiral 
grooving on its surface. 

In Fig. 168 we have a drawing of the side 
view of the skeleton of an Ichthyosaurus and 
below it a fossilized lump of its excrement. 
These are called coprolites and consist of scales 
and bones of fishes digested by the Ichthyosaurus. 
They show a corkscrew-like moulding of the 
surface, proving that the intestine of the 


229 


T ANIMALS 


1 
J 


EXTINC 


Ichthyosaurus had a spiral fold like a spiral 


staircase on the walls of the intestine, as have 


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We also find within well preserved 


the sharks. 


specimens of the skeletons of Ichthyosaurus the 


2 
230 


PTERODACTYLES 


skeletons of unborn young individuals, showing 
that the Ichthyosaurus brought forth its young 
alive. 

We pass on now to even more astonishing 
reptiles—the extinct order of the pterodactyles 
or flying reptiles of the Mesozoic period. These 


Fic. 170.—The great Pterodactyle Pteranodon as it appeared in 
; flight. 


creatures were as truly aérial as the birds and 

bats of to-day. They were of many kinds, from 

the size of a crow to so huge a form as that 

drawn in Fig. 169, which measured eighteen 

feet from the tip of one wing to the tip of the 

other. Their wings have been found well 
231 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


preserved in the Lithographic slates (see Fig. 
31, p. 47), and each consisted of a membrane 
spread from one enormously big elongated 
finger to the side of the body and little hind 
legs. 

Fig. 170 gives some idea of the form and 
appearance of the wings when expanded. Such 
a wing is more like that of a bat than that of a 
bird, since it is a membranous skin and not a 
series of feathers. The bat’s wing is a mem- 
brane supported by three of the fingers as well 
as the side of the body and hind leg. 

In Fig. 171 the fossil wing of a Pterodactyle, 
that of a recent bird with the bones and the 
great quill-feathers only in place (the smaller 
feathers having been plucked off), and the wing 
of a bat are photographed and placed together 
for comparison. There are two other kinds of 
flying animals, namely, the flying fishes (which 
do not fly far), and the six-legged insects or 
flies, bees and beetles. They have all inde- 
pendently acquired the habit of flying and have 
had certain parts of their bodies changed into 
wings. The process of change must have been 
gradual and have taken an enormous lapse of 
time to bring it about in each kind. There are 


222 
232 


WINGS COMPARED 


Fic. 171.—Photographs of three wings for comparison of their 

; structure. A. That of a Pterodactyle, membrane sup- 
ported by one long finger. B. That of a Bird, feathers 
set on the fore-arm (cubitus) and hand. C. That of a Bat, 
membrane supported by three elongated fingers. 


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iS) 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


some animals, such as the flying squirrels and 
flying lizards (Draco volans) of to-day, which 
do not really fly, since they have no wings to 
beat the air with, but can spread out a great 
flat surface on each side of the body which 
enables them to sail through the air for some 
distance without falling when they jump from 
the branch of a tree. This, however, is a long 
way from the point reached by animals which 
have wings and can strike the air as a fish 
strikes the water with its fins. Probably the 
wings of birds and of insects were both derived 
from fin-like organs which were used to swim 
with—before they were used in the air. But 
the origin of the wing of the Pterodactyles, and 
independently that of the wing of the bats, does 
not seem to have been of this nature, and is one 
of the many very puzzling matters which 
further discoveries may one day enable us to 
understand. 

In Fig. 172 two other kinds of Pterodactyle 
are shown. Some Pterodactyles had no teeth, 
but long beak-like jaws (Fig. 169). Others had 
numerous sharp-pointed teeth and were beasts 
of prey. 

It seems natural to pass from the winged 


AQ) 
SO] 


PTERODACTYLES 


reptiles to birds. But as a matter of fact’ the 
birds are not very closely related to Pterodac- 


tyles (Dimorphodon and Rhamphorhynchus). 


Fia. 172.—Probable appearance in life of two kinds of Jurassic Pterodac- 


tyles. Birds are, it seems, derived from rep- 
tiles, and are very specialized, warm-blooded 
descendants of certain reptiles. They are so 


La ~ 
235 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


peculiar that they are considered as a distinct 
“ class,”’ and the reptiles which come nearest to 
them in structure are the Dinosaurs, especially 
those Dinosaurs (like Iguanodon) which walked 
on their hind-legs and had only three toes to 
the foot. Fossil remains of birds are not 
abundant—but a few very interesting birds 
have been found in the Lower Eocene and in 
the Cretaceous rocks (see list of strata, p. 60), 
and one more remarkable than any other in the 
Lithographic slates of Jurassic age. Modern 
birds have all got feathers and beaks, and, with 
one or two rare exceptions, the quill feathers 
are set on the fore-arm and hand so as to form 
the wing. No living bird has teeth, but fossil 
birds are known with well developed teeth like 
those of reptiles. In Fig. 173 is shown the draw- 
ing of the skeleton of an extinct bird, which 
had a full set of teeth. The most remarkable 
extinct bird as yet discovered is that shown 
in Fig. 174. Two specimens of it have been 
obtained from the Lithographic slates of 
Solenhofen in Bavaria. The first one found is 
preserved in the Natural History Museum ; the 
second and more perfect is in Berlin. This 
bird—called Archeopteryx—was of the size of 


236 


TOOTHED BIRDS 


Fic. 173.—Restored skeleton of the toothed Bird, Ichthyornis 
—of the size of a pigeon—from the Chalk of Kansas, 
U.S.A. 


a large pigeon, had a short head apparently 
without a beak, and its jaws were armed with 


teeth. Whereas living birds have the fingers 


a= 
237 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


of the hand aborted and tied together, this bird 
had three distinct fingers, each armed with a 
claw. Its legs were like those of living birds, 


ee oe SD =} 


Fic. 174.—The Berlin specimen of the Archcopteryx 
siemensi, showing the wings with three fingers, the long 
tail, the head and neck and the feathers of the wings and 
tail. 


and it had four toes. Its tail was unlike that 
of any living bird, and like that of a lizard. 
Whereas the bony part of the tail of living birds 


is very short and bears the tail feathers set 


x 
236 


THE ARCHAOPTERYX 


across it fan-wise, the Archeopteryx had a long 
bony tail made up of many vertebree, and the 
feathers were set in a series one behind the 
other on each side of it, so that the tail resembled 
the leaf of a date palm in shape. Strange as 
this little creature appears, it was a genuine 
bird, for it had true feathers well developed, 
which are clearly shown in the two fossil speci- 
mens. Besides the two rows of feathers on the 
long tail, there are the full set of feathers 
spreading from the fore-arms and hands to 
form the wings, and the thighs also were 
covered with feathers. 

It cannot be said that this ancient extinct 
bird goes far towards connecting birds with 
reptiles: but in the possession of separate claw- 
bearing fingers, a long bony tail and teeth, in 
the apparent want of a beak, it does come 
nearer to lizard-like reptiles than does any other 
known bird. 

In the Tertiary Strata remains of various 
birds have been found. One of great interest 
on account of its enormous size is the Phoro- 
rachus of South America. We have in Fig. 175 
a photograph of the skull of this bird placed 
beside the stuffed skin of a living South American 


239 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


bird, the Cariama or Screamer. If the extinct 
bird had the general proportions and habits of 
the Cariama, as seems probable, it must have 
been a terrible monster, standing some twelve 
feet high and far exceeding the most powerful 
eagles and vultures in strength and the size of 


Fia. 175.—Photographs to one scale of the South American 
Cariama and the skull of the gigantic extinct Phororachus. 


its beak and claws. Great extinct wingless birds 
are found in quite recent “alluvial ”’ deposits 
in New Zealand and in Madagascar. The 
discovery of the bones of the great Moa of 
New Zealand has already been mentioned in 
our second chapter (p. 69). Many species of 


Moa have been found in New Zealand. The 
240 


WINGLESS BIRDS 


Moa is allied to the ostriches of Africa, the 
emeus and cassowaries of Australia, and the 
rheas of South America. 

It appears that under certain conditions of 
life birds may gradually lose the use of their 
wings, which dwindle in size and finally may dis- 
appear altogether. Such wingless birds are not 
necessarily of one stock. The wingless condi- 
tion, or the great reduction in the size of the 
wings, has occurred in various kinds of birds at 
various periods of the earth’s history, and in the 
same way wingless insects of different orders have 
come into existence. In New Zealand, besides 
the Moas, which are all now extinct, a small kind 
of wingless bird is found which is still alive and 
is known as the Apteryx or Kiwi. In Fig. 176 
we have placed one behind the other each with 
its egg in front of it: a Kiwi, the skeleton of a 
very fine Ostrich, and the skeleton of a giant 
Moa (Dinornis maximus). The Polynesian 
islanders who landed in New Zealand some five 
hundred years ago, found the Moas still living, 
and hunted them down and lived upon their 
flesh. Skin and feathers of these enormous 
birds have been found preserved in a dried 
condition as well as the skeletons, and there are 

241 R 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


traditions as to the hunting of the Moa still in 
existence. The Moa of Madagascar seems to 


wh Neer - 


— 


Fie. 176.—Photographs to one scale of the Apteryx, the 
Ostrich and the giant Moa of New Zealand, each with its 


egg. 
have been a smaller bird, but laid a proportion- 
ately much larger egg. It will be seen in Fig. 


242 


FLIGHTLESS BIRDS 


176 that the eggs of the Ostrich and of the 
Dinornis are not nearly so big in proportion to 
the size of the bird as is that of the Apteryx, 
which lays a truly gigantic egg considering the 
size of its body. The Moa of Madagascar is 
known as the A‘pyornis and laid the biggest egg 
known—much bigger than that of the biggest 
New Zealand Moa—resembling the Apteryx in 
the proportionate sizes of its egg and its body. 
It was this very large egg which inflamed the 
imagination of ancient navigators and led to 
the vast exaggeration, which thrills the reader 
with wonder and terror, in the accounts of the 
“roc”? given by Sinbad the Sailor in the Arabian 
Nights. 

Flightless birds necessarily, unless they are, 
like the penguins, great swimmers, must get 
destroyed and become extinct when man arrives 
on the scene. The dodo, of which I spoke in 
my first lecture (p. 26), was a close ally of the 
pigeons, but had lost its power of flight owing 
to the fact that it had no dangerous enemies in 
the island of Mauritius. It had become a 
heavy, slow running, though powerful ground 
bird. As soon as man arrived, and with him 
the pig, the flightless dodo was doomed to 


243 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


extinction. An extinct water-bird, the Hes- 
perornis, had no wings whatever, whilst the 
penguins use their wings as swimming organs 
and are unable to fly. This was also the case 
with the gare-fowl or great auk (Fig. 15, p. 23), 
which has recently become extinct. 


CEPA DRE we 


EXTINCT FISHES — BELEMNITES — LINGULA — 
TRILOBITES—SCORPIONS AND STONE LILIES 


E might, if we had time, now look at the 
remains of the great bony Labyrintho- 
donts—creatures allied to the newts, salaman- 
ders and frogs of to-day, which form the class 
Amphibia. They stand lower than the Reptiles, 
Birds and Mammals; and though they have 
typically five toes and crawl or walk the earth, 
yet are essentially aquatic animals, inasmuch as 
their young are “ tadpoles,” fish-like in form 
and provided with gills. No reptile, bird or 
mammal has hitherto been found in what are 
called the Paleozoic strata, but in the Upper 
Paleozoic strata—those of the Carboniferous 
system, the period of the coal-bearing strata 
(see Table of Strata)—there was an immense 


245 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


variety of “‘ Amphibia,” some of very large size 
—as large as a well-grown crocodile. 

It seems as though we might describe the 
Carboniferous as the period of the predominance 
of Amphibia, just as the Jurassic is that of the 
predominance of Reptiles and the Tertiary that 
of the predominance of Mammals. 

The Labyrinthodonts, though of great interest 
to the trained anatomist, do not present many 
striking forms; the most noticeable were of 
the size and shape of large alligators. Accord- 
ingly, in the short space that remains to us, I 
propose to pass by the Labyrinthodonts and go 
on to the fishes, and bring to your notice some 
of the strange fishes, the remains of which are 
dug up in very ancient strata, as far back even 
as the Upper Silurian and the Devonian rocks. 
I shall then have space to mention a few of 
the more extraordinary extinct animals of the 
lower kinds, strange shell-fish, star-fishes and 
scorpions of the remote past. 

The silver-scaled fish which are so abundant 
at the present day, with their symmetrical tails, 
such as herring, salmon, carp, roach, perch 
and other modern fishes more curious in form, 
such as eels, flat-fishes, sticklebacks, pipe-fishes 

246 


GANOID FISH-SCALES 


and parrot-fish, are all of comparatively recent 
origin. They are not found in the rocks older 
than the Cretaceous system. On the other 
hand, the sharks and dog-fish of to-day are the 
most ancient kind of fish known to us, remains 
of shark-like fishes occurring in Silurian strata. 
But the sharks have soft cartilaginous skeletons, 
and have only, as a rule, left teeth and spines 


Fra. 177.—The hard bony scales of aGanoid Fish. (#) Four 
scales as fitted together on the surface of the fish’s body ; 
(6) two scales turned over to show the ridge by which they 
lock into one another. 


and the denticles of the skin (shagreen) in the 
rocks. 

On the other hand there are certain fishes 
known which have hard bony scales and often 
great plates of bone on the head. They are 
often called “‘ Ganoid fishes”? on account of 
their hard smooth bony scales (see Fig. 177), 
which differ in substance and shape from the 
thin, flexible scales of common fish. They 

247 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


were very abundant in Mesozoic and Pale- 
ozoic times, and have left their hard scales in a 
very perfect state in the ancient rocks of those 
periods. They had often unequally divided 
triangular tail-fins, and in internal structure 
were like the sharks rather than the modern 
bony fishes. Very few of these Ganoid fish 
survive to the present day, but a fine one, the 
Polypterus (Fig. 178), still lives in the Nile and 
other African rivers, and another, the bony 
pike or Lepidosteus, in the North American 
lakes. The sturgeon also belongs to this set 
of fishes. In the Devonian is found, together 
with many others, a beautifully preserved fish, 
the Osteolepis (Fig. 180), which had lobed fins 
and hard bony scales like the Polypterus of the 
Nile. Allied to these Ganoid fishes, but differing 
in the fact that they possess lungs as well as 
gills and have very peculiar lobate fins, are the 
so-called mudfish of Africa (Protopterus) and of 
South America (Lepidosiren). A third mud- 
fish is found in the rivers of Queensland, Aus- 
tralia, and is now living in the Zoological Gar- 
dens in London. It is called Ceratodus (Fig. 
181), and is obviously related to some very 
ancient extinct fishes, of whose race it is a last 


) 


248 


NILE 


OF THE 


THE POLYPTERUS 


[ve rerpnood oyy pue uy [es1op 
peptarp yonur oy} ‘suy perojood peqoT, 9yy ‘seyeos orquIoYya paey oy} SMOYS JT “ABOUT *OZIs 
jeqnyeu oY} patyj-ouo ‘ofIN oyy Jo snaoydAjog ey} Jo uLrys polp eB jo ydeisoyoyg—'sLT “OIL 


249 


ANIMALS 


EXTINCT 


One of these ancient forebears of 


the Ceratodus is found fossil in the Devonian 


Survivor. 


Old Red Sandstone of Scotland and of 


or 


seojsn 


pue 


So[BOS 


jo sery aoddg oy} woz st 


> 21e) 


iut p 


eppoqui 


9 podlOAOOST 


pue 
p se 


« 


(umoesny, Ysa oyy Jo 
iy, 949 Aq yuory) (‘Aapney toyFy) ‘]rey poptatp ATTenboun oy 
Auoq wepnsue gos AToeso[a oY} OATesSqGQ ‘“sr1oquTeZIN AA 
sisuayay snyopidayT st ysy ou, 
‘Yst prouwy) [Issof W— 


6LT 


‘Ol 


It is known as Dipterus, and is shown 


Russia. 


It differs from Ceratodus in having 


182. 


12g. 


F 


strong bony scales (whence its preservation as 


in 


THE OSTEOLEPIS 


a fossil) and a triangular tail-fin. 


The true’ 


‘suy ([e10qo0d a0) ;e107R] JOLIOQUB 
) syoor ouo4spuRg por 
SuIMBIp ouTTINO—'OsST 


oy} JO oqo] URBIpoU oY} 9JON “puRTJOOg Jo (URTUOAZCT 
PIO 94} Ut punox ‘stdoyoo4sQ Ysty plouewsy youTyxe oy Jo 


OLA 


tail-fin has disappeared altogether in the living 


Dipterus has peculiar teeth just 


mud-fishes. 


251 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


like those of Ceratodus, and its fins are similar 
in character to those of the latter. 
In the Devonian strata are found also the 


It grows to a length 


g as well as water by its gills. 


3ritish Museum. ) 


181.—The Australian lung-fish Ceratodus. 


of two feet and breathes air by its lun 
(Figure lent by the Trustees of the I 


~ 
a 


IG.} 


F 


extraordinary fishes known as Pterichthys. They 
were compared by the wonderful Scotch quarry- 
man, Hugh Miller—who seventy years ago 


22 
252 


THE DIPTERUS 


discovered them and cleaned out many speci- 
mens from the rocks of his native hills at Cro- 


(Figure lent by the 


, but has a more fully 


, found in Scotland and in 


It was in many respects like Ceratodus 


developed tail fin and other separate median fins. 


Trustees of the British Museum. ) 


Russia. 


Fria. 182.—The extinct Devonian Fish, Dipterus 


marty in Scotland—to a tortoise’s shield with a 
fish thrust into it. We have now gained from 


253 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


Fic. 183.—Outline drawing of the extinct fish Pterichthys 
from the Devonian or Old Red Sandstone strata. A 
dorsal (34), ventral (35) and lateral view (36) are given. 
The various bony plates are numbered, The scaly body 
with dorsal fin and tail fin is shown. Note also the 
lateral leg-like anterior fins. The round orbits (4) are 
seen in Fig. 34 and the mouth in 35 between the plates 
2and 3. (After Traquair.) 


the examination of a great number of specimens 
from Canada as well as Scotland a very detailed 


254 


THE STRANGE FISH, PTERICHTHYS 


knowledge of the curious bony plates which 
build up the case or “carapace” of the body 


Fic. 184.—Photograph of a cardboard model of Pterichthys 
made by Hugh Miller, the celebrated stone-mason and 
naturalist of Cromarty, preserved in the Natural History 


Museum. 


of Pterichthys (Fig. 183), and also of its soft 
scaly tail, and the two extraordinary paddles 


255 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


or limbs which represent the anterior or breast 
fins of acommon fish. Hugh Miller puzzled this 
out with great skill and constructed a card- 
board model of the fish which we have still pre- 
served in the Natural History Museum. It will, 
I think, be interesting to those who have read 
the writings of Hugh Miller (The Testimony of 
the Rocks, My Schools and Schoolmasters, and 
other books) to see a photograph of the model 
of Pterichthys which he made with his own 
hands (Fig. 184). 

In the same rocks with Pterichthys occurs 
another very curious fish, the Coccosteus. This 
and Pterichthys were of small size only, about a 
foot long, but in Ohio in the United States the 
lower jaws and skulls of huge fishes allied to 
Coccosteus have been found, which must have 
been ten or twelve feet in length. The lower 
jaw of one of these (called Dinichthys), together 
with a restored outline of Coccosteus is shown 
in Fig. 185. 

Very strange and curious fishes (only a few 
inches long) are found in still older strata—in 
the oldest Devonian and the Upper Silurian. 
One of these is called the buckler-head or 
Cephalaspis (Fig. 186). Its head is of the shape 


256 


COCCOSTEUS AND DINICHTHYS 


of a saddler’s knife and the two eyes are placed 
near the centre. Another fish is known almost 
solely by the shields which covered the head or 
head and body, one above and the other below. 


23 


2 


Fic. 185.—The upper figure is a restored outline of the curious 
Devonian fish, Coccosteus. It is about a foot and a half 
long. The lower figure is a photograph to the same scale 
of the lower jaw of a huge fish allied to Coccosteus found 
in the Devonian rocks of Ohio in the United States of 
America. Itis called Dinichthys, and must have been from 
ten to twelve feet long. The above jaw and nearly 
complete skulls are in the Natural History Museum. 


This is the Pteraspis (Fig. 187). The head or 
head-and-body shields of these fishes and those 
of Cephalaspis are found in immense numbers 


in the hard gritty ‘“‘ cornstones ’’ of Worcester- 


257 S 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


shire and Herefordshire, also in Scotland. The 
stone is quarried for road mending, and great 
quantities of specimens have been found, though 
no other fossils occur with these fish-heads. 
It used to be imagined that this rock was the 
deposit of a great fresh-water lake, but that is 
not likely, since Pteraspis heads are found with 
marine shells in the rocks of Galicia. The 
curious thing is that although occasionally a 


Fic. 186.—Photograph from the original specimen of Cephalas- 
pis lyelli, preserved in the Natural History Museum, one- 
third the natural size, showing the saddler’s-knife-shaped 
head and the scale-bearing body. 


tail or body of Cephalaspis covered with scales 

and provided with fins has been found attached 

to a head-shield, as in Fig. 186, yet the body 

or tail of Pteraspis remains unknown. The only 

specimen showing any trace of the hinder 
258 


THE SCALES OF PTERASPIS 


region of Pteraspis is one which I obtained 
when I was a boy (in 1864) at a quarry in 
Herefordshire, the workmen from whom I got 
it saying it was a fossilized fir-cone. As a 


Fic. 187.—Drawings of the head-shield of the fossil fish 
Pteraspis. A is the species Pteraspis crouchit. B is 
Pteraspis rostratus. C shows a view of the under surface 
of the fish’s head, which was protected by a peculiar oval 
plate (called Scaphaspis, when it was supposed to repre- 
sent an independent kind of fish). The probable position 
of the mouth in front of the oval shield is shown. 
(Original. ) 


little concession to my vanity, I have had this 
solitary specimen, which I gave long ago to the 
British Museum, photographed of the natural 
size (Fig. 188). It is not much to look at, but 
it is one of the most interesting specimens I 


259 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


have myself had the pleasure of unearthing. 
The strange thing is that it is and remains 
unique. 

Fig. 


g. 189 is a photograph of the upper and 


Fie. 188.—Photograph (of the natural size) of a specimen 
showing parts of the upper and lower head-shields of 
Pteraspis crouchii, with ten rows of lozenge-shaped scales 
attached. This is the only specimen showing the scales 
of Pteraspis, and was obtained by the author at Cradley, 
near West Malvern, Herefordshire, in 1864, and subse- 
quently presented by him to the British Museum. 


under side of a model of the Drepanaspis, a 
most strange fossil fish of the same early .age, 
allied to Pteraspis. It is prepared from the 


260 


THE DREPANASPIS 


drawings of Professor Traquair, who has de- 
scribed the fish. Specimens of it in a crushed 
state preserved in the slate-rock of North 
Germany are in the Natural History Museum. 


ee 


: 


SS 


ws PR SGN S Boo ey SS YS 


Fic. 189.—Photographs of models of the Devonian Fish 
Drepanaspis, in the Natural History Museum, prepared 
after the drawings of Dr. Traquair. (Original.) 


Fishes resembling this in shape have recently 

been found in the Silurian strata of Lanark- 

shire, and they, together with the curious 

little fishes drawn in Figs. 190, 191, are 
261 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


the oldest remains of fishes which have been 
discovered. These last two—Birkenia and 
Lasanius (Figs. 190, 191)—are very puzzling 


Fic. 190.—Outline drawing of the Silurian fish Birkenia 
from Scotland, described by Dr. Traquair. 


little creatures, with spines set in a row along the 
belly. It is difficult to make out back from 
belly or to distinguish eyes or mouth, yet they 
show characteristic fish tails and a scaly cover- 


Fie. 191.—Outline drawing of Lasanius, another genus of fish 
similar to that drawn in Fig. 190, and from the same 
locality, described by Dr. Traquair. 


ing of the body. These are among the most 
recent discoveries and come from the Upper 
Silurian strata of Scotland. Specimens of these 
are in the Natural History Museum, but the 
finest series are in the Edinburgh Museum, 
where Professor Traquair has made a special 
study of the most ancient fish remains, the 


262 


VAST EXTENT OF ANCIENT STRATA 


most ancient vertebrate remains, yet disinterred 
from the crust of the earth. 

Ancient, inconceivably ancient, as are these 
Upper Silurian rocks, there are yet immense 
thicknesses below them of stratified rock, con- 
taining fossils in which no fish remains have 
been discovered. We must not conclude that 
the very curious-looking fishes of the Upper 
Silurian are really the actual forefathers of all 
later fish and of all vertebrate life. They just 
happen to be preserved and dug up, but probably 
sof{t-bodied fishes existed then and before that 
time which had no bones inside and no hard 
scales outside, and so have left no sign, in the 
rocks, of their existence. The Upper Silurian 
strata are, as you will see by looking at the ‘Table 
of Strata on p. 60, just halfway down in the 
thicknesses of rocks, between the present river 
gravels above and the Cambrian beds with the 
oldest known fossils (certain Trilobites) below. 

We will revert to the Trilobites directly ; but 
before leaving the extinct fishes I wish to men- 
tion the great fossil sharks of the late Tertiaries 
(Miocene and Pliocene). These we know by 
their teeth ; enormous shark’s teeth are found 
which are three times the length of the teeth 


263 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


of the biggest living sharks on record, as 
shown in Fig. 192. These teeth are found in 
beautiful preservation in Malta, in the Antwerp 


a a 


Fic. 192.—Photograph of the jaws of a large recent Shark 
(Carcharodon rondeletii), the largest specimen of the kind 
in the Natural History Museum. At a, a, right and left, 
is placed a single tooth of the great extinct Miocene shark 
for comparison. The space between the upper and lower 
jaw is two feet. The fossil teeth are six inches in length, 
and the largest in the jaw are two inches in length. 


sands, in Maryland, U.S.A., and in Suffolk in 

England. In Suffolk they occur in the same 

wonderful bone-bed of the Red and Coralline 

Crag (see Fig. 1924), from which we get the 
264 


Fic. 192a.—Photograph of the natural size of a tooth of the great shark, 
Carcharodon megalodon, from the bone-bed of the Red Crag of Felix- 
stowe, Suffolk. The specimen is in the author’s cabinet. It is three 
times the length of the largest living shark’s tooth, and the fish which 
bore it was probably 100 feet in length. A kind of sandstone is seen 
adhering to a part of the surface of the tooth, which shows that this tooth 
(like many others found in the Red Crag) had been embedded in an 
earlier sandy deposit (the Diestien sands) before it was washed into 
the Red Crag. 

2605 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


teeth of mastodon, rhinoceros and tapir. It 
seems to be a correct conclusion that this huge 
shark (Carcharodon megalodon) was nearly one 
hundred feet in length, since its teeth were 
fully three times the length of an almost identi- 
cal recent shark (Carcharias rondeletii), which 
measures thirty feet in length. 

“Extinct animals’? include, as must be 
obvious at once, a vast number of smaller 
creatures besides the vertebrate Fishes, Am- 
phibians, Reptiles, Birds and Mammals. Rocks 
occur containing thousands, even millions, of 
shells of Molluscs (whelks, bivalves, etc.) 
crowded together in a space of a few feet. 
Remains of minute shrimpsare equally abundant, 
and whole mountains are built up of rock formed 
by the coral or calcareous skeleton of minute 
polyps resembling our sea-anemone. Many of 
these are very peculiar forms, unlike those now 
living. Others, again, are remarkable for the 
tact that though found in the most ancient rocks 
they yet closely resemble creatures still living 
to-day. 

We will now glance at a few of the more 
remarkable “ fossils ’’ of these lower or simpler 
kinds. (See the table of classes on p. 56.) 

266 


THE AMMONITES 
In the Jurassic strata and in the Greensand 


and Chalk wonderful coiled shells are very 


Fic. 193.—Ammonites (Aegoceras capricornus) from the Lower 
Lias of England. 


commonly found which have been compared 
by the country-folk to petrified snakes and to 


Fic. 193a.—The shell of the Pearly Nautilus, cut in half so as 
to show the air chambers in the coils of the shell. (Lent 
by the Trustees of the British Museum.) 

These are the so- 


the coiled horns of the ram. 
called Ammonites (Fig. 193), of which there 
267 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


are a great number of different kinds, some as 
big as five feet in diameter. When cut across 
they are seen to be divided into a number of 
chambers internally. In fact, their structure is 
the same as that of the beautiful shells of the 
Pearly Nautilus (Fig. 1934), which to-day lives 
in the Indian and Pacific oceans. The chambers 
in the shell of the pearly nautilus contain gas 


Fic. 194.—The divided shell of the Pearly Nautilus, with the 
animal in place in the large front chamber. (Lent by the 
Trustees of the British Museum.) 


and act as a float, whilst the animal lives in the 
last chamber (Fig. 194). There are only some 
three or four species of pearly nautilus now 
living, and they represent a vast variety of 
extinct creatures which comprise not only the 
Ammonites but the more ancient Goniatites. 
Some of these extinct allies of nautilus, such as 
268 


ALLIES OF AMMONITES 


the Orthoceras, were not coiled but quite straight: 
others were loosely coiled, as is the Ancyloceras 


AN 


< 


LQ QA 


WN 


\ 


“SS 


EN 
« 


= 


Lill, \” 
Gi L, yi 
(ee UNET )Y 


Fic. 195.—The shell of Ancyloceras matheronianum, from the 
Neocomian (Lower Cretaceous) rocks of France. 
by the Trustees of the British Museum.) 


(Lent 
A similar shell 
is found in the Lower Greensand of the Isle of Wight. 


shown in Fig. 195, and others were twisted into 
elongated spires (Turrilites). 


The creature which lived in these shells was 
similar to a cuttle-fish (as we know from ex- 


269 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


amination of the animal of Nautilus), and be- 
longed to the class Cephalopoda of the great 
group Mollusca. The Molluscs include, besides 
these, the whelks, snails, mussels, clams and 
oysters. 


Fic. 196.—Belemnites hastatus from the Oxford Clay (Jurassic). 
The left-hand figure represents a specimen cut in half and 
shows the conical cavity or phragmacone (rudimentary 
chambered shell). The right-hand figure is the ‘‘ thunder- 
bolt ”? as usually found. 


A celebrated fossil which is the internal shell 
or “ pen” of a kind of cuttle-fish is that known 
bythe name ‘“ Belemnite’’(Fig. 196). These fossils 
are called “ thunder-bolts”’ in some parts of 
England, where they are sufficiently common in 
the clay and shale to attract attention. They 


270 


THE BELEMNITE’S CUTTLE FISH 


are found only in the Jurassic and Cretaceous 
formations. In fine clay specimens occur 
showing the soft parts of the sort of cuttle-fish 
in which they were formed (see Fig. 197). They 


Fic. 197.—Restored drawing of the animal in which the 
*‘ Belemnite ’’ is formed. The dense pencil-like piece 
lies embedded near the hinder end. (From a drawing by 
Sir Richard Owen.) 


are of the same character as the “‘ cuttle-bone ” 
of the living cuttle-fish and the pen of the 
squid (Fig. 198), but are more solid and heavy. 

The oldest fossils which are known are found 


2z7T 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


in the Lower Cambrian rocks (see Table of Strata, 
p. 60), and are the remains of small marine 
creatures, which were, however, by no means 
very simple in structure. One of these is the 
Lingula davis (Fig. 199), from the Lingula 


Fic. 198.—Loligo media, a cuttle-fish or squid now living in 
British seas. On the left is seen the long horny “ pen,”’ 
which, like the Belemnite, is embedded in the animal’s 
back. (Lent by the Trustees of the British Museum.) 

flags of Wales. Only the simple oval shells are 

known, but they are almost exactly like the 
shells of a marine animal which is still found 
living in immense numbers on the shores of the 
warmer oceans. The living owners of these shells 


occur in great numbers burrowing in sand and 


7 fe) 
272 


THE OLDEST FOSSILS OF ALL 


have a very highly complex structure and red- 
coloured blood. It is indeed a most remarkable 
fact that the remote fossil shells of the lower 


Fie. 199.—Lingula (Lingulella) davisii, of the natural size, 
embedded in the slaty rock of Port Madoc, North Wales. 
Cambrian strata should be identical with those of 
a living animal of a high rank in the scale of 
structure. Not only is that the case, but in all 


Fie. 200.—One of the most ancient Trilobites known (Cono- 
coryphe lyellit), from the Lower Cambrian of Nun’s Well, 
Wales. From a drawing by Professor Gaudry. This 
Trilobite is also called Conocephalites. 


the deposits above the Cambrian we find the 
shells of Lingula, so that we must conclude 
that Lingula has been existing in the seas of 


272 7 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


this earth, with very little change in form, ever 
since the Lower Cambrian times. 

Another class of fossils which are equally 
ancient are the Trilobites (Fig. 200). These 
are well-marked forms with ringed or jointed 
bodies divided very often into three longitudinal 
lobes; hence the old name Trilobites. An 
immense number of different kinds of Trilobites 
are known and classified, but they ceased to exist 
in the Permian period (see Table of Strata, p. 60). 
For along time the legs of these creatures were 
unknown; they have only been found within 
the last ten years. Mr. Beecher, of the United 
States, discovered them in one particular kind— 
the Triarthrus becki (Fig. 201). Some people 
consider these animals to be allied to the wood- 
lice or other crustacean shrimp-like forms now 
living. But it seems most probable that they 
were a primitive marine group allied to the 
scorpions, spiders and king-crabs (the Arachnida). 

It is a fact of very great significance that the 
earliest fossils yet discovered are the remains of 
very highly developed animals, by no means 
near the beginning of animal life. It is indeed 
a reasonable supposition that the earliest forms 
of animal life must have preceded the Cambrian 

274 


THE LEGS OF TRILOBITES 


r 
: 


is 
aN 
AX 
AIS 
Aah 
Ax ss 


ree 
rats 


A 
| 


nae 


ZA 
ZZ, Z 
EE 
Zé 
S 
A 4B 
eet 
H 
Ee in| 


pet, 


Mig 


Fic. 201.—Drawing of Triarthrus becki, a Trilobite from the 
Silurian rocks (Ordovician) of New York, of which the 
legs and antennz are well preserved, although no other 
Trilobite has been found showing these parts. (Lent by 
Macmillan & Co.) 


275 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


Trilobites and Lingula by as long a period as 
these latter precede the animals living to-day. 
Apparently the soft-bodied animals which pre- 
ceded the Cambrian fossils have not left any 
remains in the rocks below the Cambrian or their 
remains have been destroyed by chemical and 


Fic. 202.—The Desert Scorpion (Buthus australis). Drawn 
from a living specimen in the author’s laboratory. 


structural change in those most ancient deposits. 
The Scorpion itself (Fig. 202) isa very ancient 
and important animal which so far impressed 
the imagination of even the earliest civilized 
men, that they named one of the constellations 
after it. Some hundreds of distinct species of 
scorpions are known as living at the present day 


276 


EXTINCT SCORPIONS 


in various parts of the world. In the Car- 
boniferous strata we find fossil scorpions hardly 
differing at all from those now alive, and even in 
the Upper Silurian we find a scorpion (Fig. 203), 
which would be recognized at once by a child 


Fic. 203.—Drawing of the remains of a Scorpion (Paleophonus 
hunter?) from the Upper Silurian of Lesmahago, Scotland. 


as being a true scorpion. It, however, seems 

probable that whilst modern scorpions are 

terrestrial, and breathe air by means of lung- 

sacs, the Silurian scorpion was aquatic. This 

is indicated by its thick crab-like legs with 

strong pointed end-joints (Figs. 204 and 205). 
Besides the Silurian scorpion of undoubted 

277 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


affinity to modern scorpions, we find in the 
Silurian and Devonian rocks remains of enor- 
mous aquatic scorpion-like creatures, sometimes 


Fic. 204.—Completed draw- Fic. 205.—Completed draw- 


ing of the Scotch Silurian ing of the Silurian 
Scorpion (Palewophonus Scorpion of Gothland 
hunteri), seen from be- (Paleophonus nuncius), 
low, so as to show the seen from above. 


attachments of the legs. 


four or five feet in length (Figs. 207, 208, 209). 

These are known as the Eurypterids (Ptery- 

gotus, Stylonurus, Eurypterus, etc.). They had 
278 


THE EURYPTERIDS 


six legs like the scorpion, of which the anterior 
carried nippers in some instances. The great 


a 
Saat 5 


f \ 


Fic. 206.—View of the anterior part of a recent Scorpion from 
below, so as to show the attachments of the limbs, the 
genital plate (VII go), the combs (VIII p), and the lung- 
mouths (IX stg to XII stg). Note also the claws at the 
ends of the walking legs. 


spine at the end of the body is the representa- 

tive of the scorpion’s sting, whilst they agree 

with scorpions in the position and character of 
279 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


the eyes and in the number of segments or rings 
which build up the body and the head. 

A very interesting animal which is still alive 
(but is also found in ancient rocks) connects the 


Fic. 207.—View from below of the anterior part of the great 
Silurian Scorpion-like creature, Pterygotus osiliensis 
(From Zittel’s Palwontology, lent by Messrs. Mac- 
millan. ) 


scorpions with the great extinct Eurypterids 

and also with the Trilobites. This is the King- 

crab (Figs. 210, 211, 212), which is not a true 

crab—that is to say, a member of the class 
280 


THE KING CRAB 


Crustacea—but is a sort of marine scorpion 
with shortened tail (though having a long 
sting-like spine at the end of its body)—a 


x Be 


Fic. 208.—Photograph of a restored model of Stylonurus 
lacoanus, from the Upper Devonian of Pennsylvania, 
U.S.A. Original about five feet in length. By Professor 
C. E. Beecher. 


member of the class Arachnida. Its legs, six in 

number (Fig. 212), are singularly like those of 

the scorpion, and in a great number of minute 
281 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 
details it agrees with scorpions (see Fig. 213) 


Fic. 3209.—Eurypterus fischeri, a marine Scorpion-like animal 
from the Silurian rocks of Rootzikul. Half the size of 
nature. (Cut lent by Macmillan’s Co., New York, from 
Zittel’s Paleontology.) 


and differs from crabs. It is the only surviving 
representative of the aquatic ancestors from 


282 


THE KING CRAB 


which the modern air-breathing scorpions and 
spiders have been developed. 
From amongst all the great variety of extinct 


Fic. 210.—Dorsal view of the King-Crab (Limulus polyphemus 
Linnzeus), one-fourth the size of nature. (Cut lent by 
Messrs. Macmillan from Parker and Haswell, T'ext-book of 


Zoology.) 


invertebrate animals, I select for our last illus- 

trations and descriptions a few of the beautiful 

stone-lilies or Pentacrini, or Encrinites as they 
283 


oo eee 


, ee ee noon 


‘\ 


Fic. 211.—Diagram of the dorsal surface of a King-Crab, to 


show the head-shield carrying the central eyes (oc’) and 


the lateral eyes (oc), and corresponding to six segments 
I to VI); also the posterior shield, corresponding to 


twelve segments (VII to XVIII), and the terminal post- 


anal spine (PA), which is identical in position with the 


scorpion’s sting (see Figs. 210 and 213). 


284 


THE KING CRAB 


“Anus 


Fic. 212.—Diagram of the ventral surface of the same King- 
Crab, showing the six legs, the genital operculum (Op) 
and the branchial plates (Br. app.). Sfr, sub-frontal 
piece ; Cam, upper lip or camerostome ; M, mouth ; 
Pmst, anterior sternal plate ; Chi, the chilaria, which are 
the same parts as are seen in the pentagonal sternum of 
the Scorpion (Fig. 206, met) and in the oval plate of 
Pterygotus (Fig. 207, m). 


iS) 
je 2) 
Ou 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


Fic. 213.—Dorsal view of the eighteen segments and post-anal 
spine or sting (PA) of a Scorpion’s body to compare 
with those of Eurypterus (Fig. 209) and of the King-Crab 
(Fig. 211). In each of these the head-shield corresponds 
to six segments, as indicated by the legs (see Fig. 206 for 
the legs of the Scorpion). 


were long ago called. They have a very inter- 
esting history, for they were known as fossils as 
286 


THE STONE LILIES 


long ago as the seventeenth century, many 
years before they were found in the living 
state. They are a kind of star-fish, with long 
delicate arms attached to a central cup or body 


a 


Rag ; 
a Pps 
5 al 
Foe ee 
4 ~~ ¢ 
> 4 


ps 
? 


Fic. 214.—Slab containing Pentacrinus hemeri. The stalks 
are sometimes eighteen feet in length. (Photograph lent 
by Dr. Bather). 


which is mounted on a jointed stem, which 

is often of great length. Several kinds 

are shown in the figures 214, 215, 216. The 

fossil remains which we find are the hard in- 
287 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


ternal skeleton, consisting of carbonate of lime, 
which was a very prominent feature in their 
structure. It is of the same nature as the hard 
box-like skeleton of the sea-urchins, which, with 


Fig. 215.—Photograph of a block of Limestone of the Car- 
boniferous period from Iowa, United States of America, 
showing several kinds of Stone-lilies or Encrinites. They 
are lettered as follows: A. Rhodocrinus kirbyi, W. and Sp. 
B. Rhodocrinus watersianus, W. and Sp. C. Platycrinus 
planus, Ow. and Sh. D. Platycrinus symmetricus, W. and 
Sp. £. Dorycrinus immaturus, W. and Sp. F. Dicho- 
crinus tnornatus, W. and Sp. (Photograph lent by Dr. 
Bather). 


the star-fishes, form the great group called by 
naturalists the Echinoderma. 

In the eighteenth century a specimen of a 
living Encrinite or stalked star-fish was dis- 
covered in the deep water off Martinique in the 
West Indies, and was brought in a dried con- 

288 


THE STONE LILIES 


dition to Europe and described as a “‘ sea-palm- 
tree.” Fora long time such specimens were very 
rare and difficult to obtain, but now a great 
number have been dredged up in deep water in 


Fic. 216.—Encrinus fossilis of Blumenbach from rock 
of Jurassic age : the original ‘‘ Stone-lily.”” (Photograph 
lent by Dr. Bather.) 


different parts of the world. Still there are 

only a dozen or so of different kinds or species 

of the Encrinites still living, whereas in all the 

older rocks we find their remains often in great 
289 U 


EXTINCT. ANIMALS 


profusion. Many hundreds of extinct kinds 
are known and they occur as far back as the 
Cambrian rocks and are wonderfully varied and 
abundant in the Silurian, Devonian and Car- 
boniferous (Fig. 215). Some of the finest are 
found in the Jurassic strata (Figs. 214 and 216). 

A very interesting discovery in regard to the 
Encrinites was made by a celebrated English 
naturalist, Vaughan Thompson, in 1836, who was 
an army surgeon and quartered at Cork, where he 
studied the marine animals of Queenstown har- 
bour. He found out many new and important 
things by watching the growth from the egg by 
means of the microscope of barnacles, star- 
fishes and sea-moss, which he kept alive in 
small glass vessels. 

Vaughan Thompson first of all discovered in 
the sea at Queenstown a minute Encrinite, not a 
third of an inch long (Fig. 217), and to this he 
gave the name Pentacrinus europeus. The large 
one from the West Indies was at that time the 
only other living Encrinite known, and was 
called Pentacrinus asteria. 

This was a sufficiently astonishing discovery, 
but more was to come. Vaughan Thompson 
found in the next place that the body of his 

290 


THE BRITISH ENCRINITE 


little Pentacrinus europeus grows larger and 
larger whilst the stalk shrivels and ceases to 


Fia. 217.—The living British Encrinite, the minute young of 
the Feather Starfish (Comatula or Antedon), greatly 
magnified. (Lent by the Trustees of the British Museum.) 


grow, so that the animal becomes detached and 
swims away freely by the movement of its 
291 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


arms. It grows up to be a well-known star- 
fish, the feather-star or comatula (Fig. 218). 
At first this history was not believed, and the 
Royal Society of London refused to publish 


SS 
— 


Ss < 
BOS 


Fic. 218.—Drawing by Mr. Berjeau from an actual[specimen 
of the Feather Star-fish (Comatula or Antedon rosacea), 
showing the ten “pinnate ’”’ or feather-like arms rising 
from the edge of the disc or central body, and the small 
grasping ‘‘ cirrhi’’ by which the animal is clinging to a 
stone. Of the natural size. (Original.) 


Vaughan Thompson’s account of what he had 
seen. But it was soon fully established. The 
little Pentacrini were bred in glass jars by 
many observers from the eggs of the feather- 


292 


YOUNG OF THE FEATHER STAR 


star, and all of them were seen to proceed after 
acertain time to produce freely-swimming little 
star-fish. Thus it was proved, what indeed is 
clear enough from the structure of its feathered 
arms and other parts, that the feather-star or 
comatula is unlike other star-fishes and is a 
Pentacrinus (or stone-lily or Encrinite or Crinoid) 
which has lost its stalk. And all the time that 
the naturalists of 250 years ago were disputing as 
to the real nature of the stone-lilies found in 
the rocks, little stone-lilies a quarter of an inch 
long were being abundantly produced every year 
close to hand in the sea on the rocky shores of 
England and France and in the Mediterranean. 
Whilst the first recent unfossilized Pentacrinus 
seen by naturalists was brought all the way 
from Martinique, any number of a minute size 
were to be found living on our ownshores. But 
these European Pentacrini escaped observation 
on account of their minute size and the sudden 
dwindling and loss of the stalk. Only in its 
very young stage does the common feather-star 
of to-day retain the most remarkable character- 
istic of its remote Cambrian ancestors, the stalk. 
But it does for a brief week or so, whilst almost 
invisible to the unaided eye, possess a well- 


293 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


grown stalk by which it is fixed just as were its 
remote forefathers by their splendid waving 
stems many feet in length. 


In these pages I have only been able to bring 
to the reader’s notice a few of the marvellous 
and delightful things which we know as “ fos- 
sils °*>—only a very small selection of what is 
known about extinct animals. I have avoided 
going into much detail and using more technical 
terms and long names than is absolutely neces- 
sary. It is impossible to speak of these things 
without mentioning their names; and though it 
is true that a fossil “called by any other 
name’’ would still be full of interest, yet we 
must have a definite name by which to speak 
of each kind of animal and each kind of rock. 
If one’s interest is aroused in these astoundingly 
ancient and curious remains of extinct creatures, 
it becomes after all no very difficult matter to 
remember their names and to distinguish them 
from each other as well as to recognize them 
when we come across the names in books or 
museums. To learn more than the few facts 
which I have so briefly stated in these pages, 

294 


THE FOSSIL-HUNTER’S SPORT 


the reader should visit many times the Natural 
History Museum, see the actual specimens, and 
by the aid of the illustrated guide-books get 
to know more details about them. And if he 
or she have the chance and can go and hunt 
in some of the quarries or cliffs which are so 
often full of fossils, an endless delight and 
a health-giving pursuit is the prospect before 
him or her.  Fossil-hunting with hammer 
and chisel and a bag to be laden with speci- 
mens, is splendid exercise, and, if skilfully 
conducted, an exciting form of sport. Even 
within reach of a Londoner’s day there are the 
brickfields of Ilford and Grays, where I used to 
get remains of mammoth, rhinoceros and such 
beasts ; there are the chalk and tertiary strata 
of Charlton in Kent full of fossils; the Red 
Crag pits of Suffolk; the oolites of Oxford ; 
the sponge-gravel of Farringdon. A very little 
longer journey brings the fossil-hunter to the 
Isle of Wight, which used to be, and I doubt 
not still is, a magnificent preserve of Eocene, 
Greensand and Wealden fossils ; and not further 
off in length of journey are the Malvern 
hills, with Silurian and Devonian _ strata 
exposed in quarries and railway cuttings, 


295 


EXTINCT ANIMALS 


teeming with fossils. And there is always the 
chance—a good sportsman’s chance—of finding 
“something new” if one understands the 
business and is never wearied of digging in 
sand and clay, and hammering the rock, and 
hunting up quarrymen and those delightful 
people—rarer now than they were forty years 
ago—the local naturalists. Ihope that many, 
if not all of my readers, may be incited by the 
accounts and pictures of extinct animals which 
I have given in these pages, to become “‘ soldiers 
of the hammer,” as Sir Roderick Murchison used 
to call us, and collectors of fossils—and if 
blessed by good fortune, discoverers of things 
as yet unknown to man. 


296 


INDEX 


A 
Abbeville neighbourhood, 
flint implements found 
in, 87 
Advice to those interested in 
extinct animals, how 
to obtain knowledge, 
fossil-hunter’s sport, 
ete., 294-295 
Aegoceris capricornus, 267 
Aipyornis (moa of Madagas- 
car), size of egg laid by, 
243 
Africa : 
Central Africa under the 
equator : 
Five-horned giraffe— 
specimen shot by Sir 
H. Johnston, 158 
Giraffe still existing, pro- 
tection required, 20 
Okapi—skin and_ skulls 
discovered by Sir 
Harry Johnston, 161, 
163 
Ethiopian region—zoologi- 
cal province, 63, 65 
South Africa : 
Giraffe extinct, 20 
Lycosaurus — reptile 
found in Northern 
Russia allied to, 221 
Pariasaurus—skull, speci- 
men discovered in Rus- 
sia similar to one dis- 
covered in South 
Africa, 220 


Africa: 
South Africa—contd. 
Quagga, a native of, 
18 
Theromorph reptiles 


found in rocks of Cape 
Colony, 210, 211, 212 
Zebra common in, 20 
African elephant refer to 
title Elephants 
African square-mouthed rhi- 
noceros, 144 
Skull compared with that 
of Rhinoceros antiqui- 
tatis, 9, 10 
Age of extinct animals—great 
age of remains, 3, 218 
Air-breathing vertebrates— 
Nose-passages in living 
and extinct crocodiles, 
difference in position 


of, 191 
Aleutian Islands, sea-cow 
found in, 20 
Amalitzky, Professor, 212, 


214, 216, 29; 2211 
America, South: 
Animal remains found in, 

167 

Iguana — similarity of 
teeth to those of the 
iguanodon, 200 

Megatherium, 7, 9 

Mylodon, discovery of 
remains in cave in 
Patagonia see Mylo- 
don. 


o7 


INDEX 


America, South: 
Animals found, ete.—contd. 


Phororachus — gigantic 
extinct specimen, 
photograph, etc., 239, 
240 


Size of recent animals 
compared with their 
‘representatives in the 
past, 166 

Toxodon, 8, 9 

Coast level, changes in, 38, 
39, 40 
Fishes—mud-fishes allied 
to the ganoid fish, 248 
Neatta breed of cattle, 
** bull-dogging ” of 
skull, 104 
Neo-tropical region :—zoo- 
logical province, 65 
American mastodon 
Mastodons 
Amiens neighbourhood, flint 
implements found in, 

' 86, 87 

Ammonites—where found, 
structure of — shell, 
animal living in the 
last chamber of the 
shell, ete., 267, 268 

Animals which lived inside, 
similarity to cuttle- 
fish, 269 
Extinet allies, 268, 269 
Amphibia animals : 
Labyrinthodonts, creatures 
allied to, 245 


see 


Variety found in_ the 
carboniferous system, 

245 
Anatomy—science of com- 


parative anatomy, 67 


Ancestors : 
Mammals, size and descrip- 
tion of original “ type,” 


114 
Young animals, features re- 
sembling ancestors, 


which disappear on at- 
taining full size, 106 
particular animals 
see their names, Horse, 
Elephant, etc.) 
Anchitherium—three-toed an- 
cestor of the horse, 136 
Ancyloceras, shell of, 269 


(for 


Andes—height partly  ac- 
quired by rising of 
coast, 38 

Andrews, Dri, 123) 124s tebe 
126 


Animal life, earliest forms of, 
preceding the Cam- 
brian ‘Trilobites and 
Lingula—no remains 
of soft-bodied animals 
in the rocks, ete., 263, 
275 

Animal morphography, 67 

Animals which are becoming 
extinct : 

Beaver, 15, 16 
Giraffe, 20, 156 
Tortoise, 28, 29 
Wolf, 14 

Anning, Miss, 6 

Antiquity of man in Europe, 
85-87 

Antwerp, shark’s teeth found 
in, 264 

Apteryx : 

Egg of the ostrich, giant 
moa and apteryx, size 
compared, 242, 243 


298 


INDEX 


Apteryx—contd. 
Wingless live bird found in 
New Zealand, 241 
Aquatic creatures refer to 
titles, Reptiles, Scor- 
pions, Fishes, Shells, 
ete.; also names of 
creatures. 

Arachnida class, king crab 
member of, 281 
Archeopteryx, toothed bird, 

236 
Berlin specimen, 236, 238 
Fingers, three distinct fin- 
gers, 237 
Form, shape, ete., with tail 
like lizard and _ true 
bird feathers, 238 
Archangel, North Russia— 
Professor Amalitzky’s 
discoveries, 212-222 
Argentine Republic : 
Glyptodon— Armadillo-like 
animal from  Pleisto- 
cene, 170 
Megatherium, skeleton of, 
found in alluvial sands, 
i) 
Toxodon, 8, 9 
Armadillo-like animal, Glyp- 
todon—enormous _ ar- 
madilloes, ete., 170, 171 
Armadilloes of South America: 
Hairy armadillo, photo- 
graph, 169 
Size compared with repre- 
sentatives in the past, 
166, 167 
Arsinéitherium : 
Appearance in life, picture 
showing probable ap- 
pearance, 153 


Arsinoitherium—contd. 
Discovery in Upper Eocene 
sands of Egyptian Fa- 
yum, 151 
Horns and teeth, 154 
Name, origin of, 152 
Skull, 152 
Ashmole, Mr. E., 27 
Atlantosaurus—example of 
size to which some of 
the Dinosaurian rep- 
tiles attained, 197, 198, 
199 
Photograph of thigh-bone, 
ll 
Auk see Great Auk 
Australia : 
Fishes : 
Lung-fish Ceratodus, il- 
lustration, 252 
Mud-fish found in rivers 
of Queensland, 248 
Kinds of animals—no_ ab- 
original Placentals, 
ete., 64 
Land of the Marsupials or 
pouched mammals: 
bones of gigantic crea- 
tures discovered, 184 
(for particular animals 
see their names) 
Reptile Chlamydosaur from 
Queensland — photo- 
graph, 195 
Size of recent animals com- 
pared with their repre- 
sentatives in the past, 
166 
B 
Babbage, Mr., 34 
Basilosaurus, 76 
Bather, Dr., 287, 288, 289 


299 


INDEX 


Bats’ wings—resemblance be- 
tween wings of a Ptero- 
dactyles and those of 
a bat, 232, 233 

Beadnell, Mr., 152 

Beaver extinct in England, 
still existing in Europe 
and America, 15, 16 

Beecher, Prof. C. E., 274, 281 


Belemnite’s cuttle-fish—fos- 
sils called ‘‘ thunder- 
bolts”? in parts. of 


England, etc., 270 
Berjeau, Mr., 292 
Bird-like footprints on slab of 
Triassic rock from Con- 
necticut, 54 
Birds : 
Animals, birds constituting 
group of, 23, 56 
Derived from reptiles, rep- 
tiles coming nearest to 
birds in structure, ete., 
202, 235, 236, 239 
Feather-bearing wing © of 
modern birds, begin- 
ning of, 202 
Fossil remains, where 
found, etc., 236, 239 
New Zealand—giant ‘birds 
see New Zealand 
Skull, single joint at back 
of, 74 
Teeth, fossil remains of 
birds with full set of 
teeth like those of rep- 
tiles, 236, 237 
Wingless birds : 
Loss of wings, causes, 
etc., 241, 243 
Remains of, where found, 
etc., 240 


Wingless birds—contd. 
Water-bird, Hesperornis, 
etc., 244 
Wings : 
Fin-like organs, wings 
probably derived from, 
234 
Reptiles — wings of the 
flying reptile, Pterodac- 
tyle,compared with,233 
(for particular birds 
see their names) 
Birkenia—oldest remains of 
fishes which have been 
discovered, 262 
Bognor Rock — photograph 
of slab with shells em- 
bedded, 45 
Bones : 
Age of remains discovered, 3 
Buried remains indicating 
kind of animal, food, 
etc., 2-4 
Recognition of—marks,ete., 
by which fragments of 
bone may be referred 
to their proper classes, 
67, 72-76 
(see also Skulls) 
Boucher de Perthes, M., 87 
Brains, size of: 
Dinoceras and Titanothe- 


rium, brains much 
smaller than those of 
recent big animals, 


148-151, 209 

Size of, in proportion to 
body — tiny size of 
brains of Dinosaurian 
reptiles, probable effect 
on their ceasing to ex- 
ist, 209 


300 


INDEX 


Brontosaurus—skeleton and 
probable appearance in 
life, 204, 205, 206 

Brussels—discovery of com- 
plete skeletons of huge 
TIguanodons in coal 
mine, 200 

Buckle-head fish found in 
oldest Devonian strata, 
saddler’s knife-shaped 
head, etc., 256—illus- 
tration, 258 

‘** Bull-dogging’”’ of skull in 
elephants, pugs, etc., 
103-105, 106 

Bulls : 

Urus of Julius Cesar, 16, 17 
Wild cattle still found in 

England, ancestry of, 
16, 17 

Burchell’s = rhinoceros — or 
square-mouthed Afri- 
can rhinoceros — see 
Rhinoceros 

Buthus Australis: Drawing 
of desert scorpion, 276 


C 


Cambrian Rocks, shells of 
Lingula found in—fos- 
sil shells identical with 
those of a living animal 
of a high rank in scale 
of structure, 272, 273 

Cape Colony, refer to Africa, 
South 

Carboniferous system, variety 
of amphibia found in, 
245, 246 

Carcharodon megalodon—tooth 
of the great shark, 265 


Carcharodon rondeletii—jaws 
of large recent shark, 
264 

Cariama or Screamer—gigantic 
extinct South American 
Phororachus, etc., 240 

Carnegie, Mr. Andrew, 204 

Cattle : 

** Bull-dogging ” of skull in 
Neatta breed, 104 

Wild cattle still to be found 
in England, ancestry 
of Gs 17 

Causes of extinction of ani- 
mals : 

Changes in the surface of 
the earth—conditions 
of life altered for the 
animals, 31 and note 

Development of ancestral 
form in different direc- 
tions, 29, 30 

Man’s interference, 28 

Caves : 

Engravings on ivory and 
bone found in, 90-92 

Mylodon, remains _ dis- 
covered in cave in 
south-west Patagonia 
see Mylodon 

Cephalaspis—saddler’s knife- 
shaped head and scale- 
bearing body, 256—il- 
lustration, 258 

Ceratodus—Australian lung- 
fish related to ancient 
extinct fishes, 248—il- 
lustration, 252 

Ceteosaurus—remains found 
near Oxford, 204—pro- 
bable appearance in 
life, 206 


> 


301 


INDEX 


Chalk—tilted strata at Sea- 
ford, Sussex, 50 
Changes in the earth: 

Animals, effect on—change 
of form or extinction, 
31 and note 

Difficulty of realizing 
changes, inability to 
think in long enough 
lapses of time, 13 

Eating away of edge of land 
by sea waves, 42 

Incessant and great changes, 
12 

Land added to the coast by 
the sea, 43, 44 

Rising and sinking of sur- 
face of the land, 
changes in distribution 
of land and water, 31 


Europe: 
Elevation of the sea- 
bottom, effect on 


distribution of land 
and water, 40, 41, 42 
Middle Tertiary Period— 
map showing attempt 
to determine distri- 
bution of land and 
water, 42, 43 
Fossils as a means of 
tracing former connec- 
tion of different land 
surfaces, 66, 67 
Places where there is evi- 
dence of change in 
level, 38, 39 
Roman remains at Puz- 
zuoli,with photographs 
showing the temple as 
it was and is now, 32— 
38 


Changes in the earth: 
Rising and sinking of sur- 
face, ete.—contd. 
Washing of material from 
surface of land by 
rains and rivers, 42, 
43, 44 
Charlton, J<ent—where fossils 
are to be found, 295 
Cheirotherium — footprints 
shown on slab of Tri- 
assic rock, 55 
Chili — coast level, changes in 
—alleged Spanish in- 
scription on rocks, 38, 
39, 40 
Chimpanzee, skull of, com- 
pared with skulls of 
monkey-man and mod- 
ern man, 88—90 
Chlamydosaur from Queens- 
land—photograph, 195 
Classification of animals: 
Great groups of the pedigree 
of animals, list of, 56 
Grouped into divisions, etc., 
according as they are 
like or unlike in details 
of structure, 72 
Mammals, tabular list of 
chief orders, 57 
Reptiles, tabular list of 
chief orders, 58, 190 
Clouded tiger, teeth of, 81 
Coast : 
Eating away of the edge of 
the land by sea waves, 
42 
Level, changes in—see title, 
Changes in the earth — 
Rising and sinking of 
surface of the land 


302 


INDEX 


Coecosteus — curious fish 
found in the same 
rocks as the Pterich- 
thys, 256 

Huge fish allied to found 
in Ohio, U.S., 256—il- 
lustration, 257 

Cochlea—spiral cochlea a 
distinctive mark of 
mammals, 75 

Collections of fossils—de- 
lights of fossil-hunting, 
where to seek fossils, 
etc., 295 

Comatula or Antedon—living 
British Encrinite, mi- 
nute young of the 
feather starfish, 291, 292 

Condyles of the skull, mam- 


mals _ distinguished 
from birds and reptiles, 
73 


Cope, Proefssor, 206 

Coypu rat, teeth of, 81, 82 
Crab—king crab see that title 
Crocodile : 

Air-breathing — different 
position of nose-pas- 
sages in living and ex- 
tinct crocodiles, 191 

Skull, photograph of, show- 
ing single condyle, 74 

Teeth — photographs of 
gharial and true croco- 
dile showing peg-like 
teeth, 82, 83 


Crumpling of strata _ see 
Tilting 

“Crust ’’ of the earth a mere 
skin, 50 

Cuttle-fish — Belemnite’s 


cuttle-fish, 270, 271 


Cynognathus — Theromoph 
reptile, 210 


D 


Deer—skeleton of male of 
giant Irish deer, 94, 95 
Definition of extinct animals, 
1 
Devonshire—change in coast 
level at Plymouth, 38 
Diagrams : 
King-crab, 284, 285 
Stratified rocks, table show- 
ing approximate thick- 
ness of systems of 
strata and position in 
which animal remains 
have been found, 60— 


62 
Dicynodon—Theromorph rep- 
tile, 210 


Dimetrodon—treptile of the 
Theromorphan group, 


210 

Dinichthys—fish allied to the 
Coccosteus found in 
Devonian rocks’ of 
Ohio, 256—illustration, 
257 

Dinoceras : 


Brains much smaller than 
those of recent big 
animals, 148-151, 209 

Horns and tusks, 147 

Picture of, probable ap- 
pearance in life, 149 

Skeletons found in Upper 
Eocene of Wyoming, 
147, 148 

Dinosaurian group of reptiles : 

Birds, structure of—reptile 

coming nearest to, 236 


693 


INDEX 


Dinoceras : : 
Dinosaurian group of rep- 
tiles—contd. 
Brains, tiny size in pro- 
portion to body, 208 
Extinct order of reptiles, 


192 

Huge carnivorous Dino- 
saurs which had been 
superseded by lions 
and tigers of to-day, 
192 


Jurassic Dinosaur Stegosau- 
rus, drawing of, 208 

Profusion in which bones 
have been found in 
United States—skill 
and success of the 
American naturalists, 
etc., 204 

Shape and form—drawing 
of skeleton, etc., 194, 


197, 199 

Size to which some of the 
Dinosauria attained, 
197 


Large in the body as 
huge elephants, 208 


Three-horned dinosaur, 
Triceratops, appear- 
ance in life—drawing, 
207 


Walking on hind legs and 
on all fours, 199, 204 
(refer also to names of 
reptiles of this order, 
such as Iguanodon, 
Atlantosaurus, Mega- 
losaurus, etc.) 
Dinotherium, mastodon-like 
creature found in the 
Miocene, 117, 118 


Diplodocus skeleton in Car- 
negie Institute at Pitts- 
burg, etc., 204—pro- 
bable appearance in 
life, 206 

Diprotodon—giant 
lan marsupial 

Feet—Dr. Stirling’s dis- 
covery, 185—photo- 
graph, 188 

Remains of specimens of 
Diprotodon discovered 
in morass in South 
Australia, 185, 187 

Skeleton—drawing made 
by Sir Richard Owen, 
186 

Skull, drawing of, with a 
human skull beside it 
to give a scale, 184, 
185 

Dipterus—extinct Devonian 
fish found in Scotland 
and Russia, 250, 251— 
illustration, 253 

Distribution of animals—Zoo- 
geographical map, 63— 
66 

Distribution of land and 
water, changes in see 
title, Changes in the 


Austra- 


earth — Rising and 
sinking of surface of 
the land 


Dodo : 

Extinct—causes, etc., 26 

Head and foot, ete—rem- 
nants of living dodos 
seen by Europeans, 28 

Live specimens exhibited in 
Europe in 1610 and 
1620, 27 


304 


INDEX 


Dodo: 
Extinct, causes, ete.—contd. 
Loss of power of flight, 

causes, ete., 243 
Mauritius, discovery in, 26 
Oxford University  speci- 

men, fate of, 27 
Photographs of bird and 

skeleton, 26, 27 
Skeletons and bones dis- 

covered since extinc- 

tion, 28 

- Dog-fish—most ancient kind 

of fish known, 247 

skulls, shortening of 

face in bulldogs and 

pugs, 104, 105 

Dragon-fly’s wings preserved 

in stratified rock, 46, 

47 

Drawing, skill of primitive 

men—photographs of 

engravings on ivory 

and bone, etc., 90—92 

Drepanaspis—strange fossil 

fish same age as the 

Pteraspis — Professor 

Traquair’s drawings, 

etc., 260, 261, 262 

Dromatherium—lower 


Dogs’ 


jaws 
of ancient mammals, 

189 
Dryolestes—lower jaws of 


ancient mammals, 189 
Dunwich, city swallowed up 
by the sea, 43 
Divina, river—cliffs where 
nodules containing 
skeletons of reptiles 
are found—Professor 
Amalitzky’s discover- 

ies, 212-222. 


E 

Ear—spiral internal ear, dis- 
tinctive mark of a 
mammal, 74—76 

Earthquakes, cause of, 50 

Edentata—group of mam- 
mals peculiar to South 
America, extinction of 
the monstrous animals, 
167 

(refer also to titles, Sloths, 

Armadilloes, Mylodon, 
etc.) 

Education, art of—logical 

method v. exciting the 

desire to know, 4 

size compared—eggs 

of the apteryx, ostrich 

and giant moa, 242, 243 

Egypt—Fayum Desert, dis- 
coveries of bones by 


Eggs, 


Dr. Andrews and the 
Egyptian survey, 123- 
132 
Elasmotherium, 144 
Elephants : 
Ancestral history traced 
back through series 
from bulldog - faced 


elephants to ordinary 
mammals see title, 
Mastodons 

* Bull-dogging ”’ or short- 
ening of the face, 103, 
104, 105, 106 

Photographs of skulls, 

104, 107, 108, 109 

Dinotheriwm—extinet side- 
branch of elephant 
family, 117, 118 

Hairy skin of new-born 
young, 95 


305 XK 


INDEX 


Elephants—contd. 

Head of African elephant 
with uplifted trunk, 
drawing of, 122 

Indian and African ele- 
phants compared— 
size, ears, tusks, etc., 
95, 96-100 

Mammoth see that title 

Skeleton of Indian _ ele- 
phant, 101 

Teeth : 

Description of, 107-110 
Ridges on molar teeth, 
110-112 
Tusks, 99-101, 107 
Trunk, origin of, 119-122 
Emin Pasha, 101 
Encrinites see Stone-lilies 
England : 

Plesiosaurs, remains of, dis- 
covered in south of 
England, 225 

Theromorphs, remains of, 

found in England, 210 

particular counties 

see their names) 

Equus Johnstoni--name given 
to the Okapi by Dr. 
Sclater, 164 

Ethiopian region—zoological 
province, 63, 65 

Europe : 

Antiquity of man, 85-87 

Elevation of sea-bottom, 
effect on distribution 
of land and water, 40, 
41, 42 

Middle Tertiary Period, map 
showing attempt to de- 
termine distribution of 
land and water, 42, 43 


a 


(for 


Eurypterids—aquatic — scor- 
pion-like creature, 278, 
280 
Animal which connects 
scorpions with the ex- 
tinct Eurypterids— 
king crab, 280 
Eurypterus — _ scorpion-like 
creature, 278, 282, 286 
Eyes—third eye called the 
pineal eye, placed on 
the top of head of the 
ichthyosaurus, 227, 
228 


F 


Fayum Desert, discoveries of 
bones by Dr. Andrews 
and the Egyptian sur- 
vey, 123-132 

Feather  star-fish 
Stone-lilies 

Feathers of birds 
Birds, 
birds 

Fingers, birds with—Arche- 
opteryx with three dis- 
tinct fingers, 237 

Fins : 

Fish-like reptile, ichthyo- 
saurus, 227 

Fishes’ fins see Fishes 

Wings probably derived 
from, 234 

Fish-like — reptiles—ichthyo- 
saurus. drawing, 226 

Fishes : 

Ancient fish—-most ancient 
kind of fish known, 247 
Fins : 
Lobate fins of the mud- 
fish, 248 


refer to 


refer to 
also names of 


06 


INDEX 


Fishes—contd. 

Tail-fin, disappearance of, 
in living mud-fishes, 
251 

Triangular tail-fins, etc., 
of the ganoid fishes, 
248, 251, 252, 253 

Flying fishes, 232 
Forefathers of later fish— 
improbability of curi- 
ous looking fishes of the 
Upper Silurian strata 
being actual forefathers 
of all later fish, 263 
Head and body shields— 
Pteraspis and Cepha- 
laspis, 257, 258, 259 
Lungs as well as gills pos- 
sessed by mud-fish of 
Africa, ete., 248 
Mud-fish allied to the ga- 
noid fishes, where 
found, ete., 248 
Oldest remains of fishes 
which have been dis- 
covered, 262 
Recent discoveries from the 
Upper Silurian strata 
of Scotland, 262 
Saddler’s knife - shaped 
head and scale-bearing 
body of the Cephalas- 
pis, 256, 257, 258 
Scales—hard bony scales of 
the ganoid and fishes 
allied to, 247, 249, 250 
Shells with animals living 
inside see Shells 
Silver-scaled fish—variety, 
comparative recent 
origin, etc., 246 
(see also names of fishes) 


Five - horned 
Giraffe 
Flightless birds refer to Birds, 
also names of birds 
Flint implements : 

Antiquity of man, evidence 
of, 87 

Photographs of flint instru- 
ments from gravel pit 
at St. Acheuil, 86 

Places where flint imple- 
ments have been found, 
85, 86, 87 

Flying animals : 

Birds see that title 

Ptérodactyles, flying fishes, 
ete., 231, 233, 234 

Folding and crumpling of 
strata see Tilting 
Footprints of animals in 

ancient rocks, 53-55, 
199 
Fossil-hunting—delights _ of, 
where to seek for fos- 
sils, ete., 295 
Fossils : 

Earliest yet discovered are 
of remains of highly- 
developed animals and 
by no means near the 
beginning of animal 
life, 274 

Fayum Desert, discoveries 
by Dr. Andrews and 
the Egyptian survey, 
123-132 

Oldest which are known— 
remains of small mar- 
ine creatures, ete., 272 

Position in which animal 
remains have been 
found 


giraffe see 


307 


INDEX 


Fossils—contd. 
Diagram, 60—62 
Importance of knowing 
where particular ani- 
mals are found, means 
of ascertaining former 
connexion of different 
land surfaces, 67 
Stratified rocks, remains 
found on, 45—47 
France — flint implements 
found in, 85, 86, 87 


G 


Ganoid fishes : 
Fishes belonging to the 
ganoid set, 248 
Fossil ganoid fish as dis- 
covered embedded in 
rock—illustration, 250 
Hard bony scales of — 
drawing, etc., 247 
Number of—number  sur- 
viving at the present 
day, where to be found, 
etc., 247, 248 
particular specimens 
see their names) 
Gare-fowl see Great Auk 
Gaudry, M., 162 
Germany—Drepanaspis, fos- 
sil fish found in slate 
rocks of North Ger- 
many, 260, 261 
Gharial, Indian crocodile— 
photograph of jaw 
showing peg-like teeth, 
82 
Giants, existence of, sup- 
posed from discovery 
of huge bones, 2 


(for 


Giraffe : 
Animals allied to, with 
moderate length of 


neck, 158—165 
Extinct in South Africa, 20 
Five-horned giraffe, 156 
Horns or outgrowths, 157 
Skull—photograph, 157 
Specimen shot by Sir H. 
Johnston in Uganda, 
156, 158 
Hoofs—double hoofs like 
other animals to which 
it was allied, 158 
Neck, true position of, 20, 
PA 
Protection required for— 
still existing in Equa- 
torial Africa, 20 
Teeth—crown divided by 
slit into two halves de- 
seribed as bi-foliate— 
allied animals with the 
same peculiarity of 
tooth, 159 
Gly ptodons—enormous arma- 
dilloes, 171 
Skeleton—drawing, 170 
Gonialites — extinct pearly 
nautilus, 268 
Gray’s Inn Lane, flint imple- 
ment found in, 86 
Great Auk : 
Egg, 23, 25 
Price paid for, number of 
specimens known, etc., 
24. 
Extinet — skeleton found 
on coast of Newfound- 
land, 24 
Photographs of bird and 
egg, 23, 25 


308 


INDEX 


Great Auk—contd. 

Places where great auk was 
to be found up to sixty 
years ago, 24 

Size and appearance, 24 

Wings, use of, as swimming 
organs, 244 

Greece—giraffe-like animals 
found in Miocene 
strata, 160, 161 

Groups of animals see Clas- 
sification 

Gunther, Mr., 34 

H 

Hamilton’s, Duke of, estates, 
ancestry of wild cattle 
on, 17 

Helladotherium — giraffe-like 
animal found in Mio- 
cene beds, 161 

Skeleton—photograph, 162 

Herefordshire : 

Fishes with head and body 
shields found in “ corn- 
stones,’ 258 

Interesting specimens, found 
by the author, of the 
Pteraspis, 259, 260 

Hesperornis — extinct water- 
bird, 244 

Hipparion—ancestor of the 
horse, 136 

Holarctic region — zoological 
province, 63, 65, 91 

Holditch, Sir Thomas, 181 

Hoofs—double hoofs : 

Giraffe family, 158 

Okapi, giraffe-lke animal, 
161, 164 

Horns : 

Arsinoitherium, 154 

Dinoceras, 147 


Horns—contd. 
Five-horned giraffe, 157 
Paired-horns—okapi, 164 
Rhinoceros and creatures 
allied, 144, 146 
Horse : 
Ancestors : 
Five toes—Phenacodus, 
139 
Later stages from Meso- 
hippus to the modern 
horse traced by abun- 
dant fossil remains, 139 
Three-toed ancestors 
found in the Miocene 
and Pliocene: 
Anchitherium, 136 
Hipparion—side toes 
getting small, 136 
Mesohippus, 136 
Three toes on hind foot 
and four toes on front 
foot— Hyracotherium, 
136, 137, 139, 140 
Bones and teeth of the ex- 
tinct South American 
genus, Onohippidium 
found in cave of Ulti- 
ma Speranza, 180 
Difference between the 
horse and central typi- 
cal mammals, 132 
Man and horse, skeletons 
compared, 70-72 
Model of thoroughbred 
English horse, photo- 
graph of, 133 
Size, increase in, 140, 166 
Teeth : 
Cheek-teeth of modern 
horse more complex 
than in ancestors, 140 


309 


INDEX 


Horse—contd. 
Mesohippus, teeth of, 141 
Upper molar tooth of a 
recent horse, 142 
Toes and foot : 
Description of bones of 
fore and hind foot, 134, 
136 
Living horses occasion- 
ally born with two toes 
attached to the splint 
bones, 139 
Photographs of modern 
horse’s foot and of 
four-toed and_ three- 
toed ancestors, 135, 
137, 138 
“* Splint-bones,”’ remains 
in modern horse of two 
additional toes, 136 
Hybrids—Okapi as hybrid or 
‘mule’ between ze- 
bra and giraffe theory, 
164, 165 
Hyracotherium—ancestor of 
the horse, 136, 137, 
139, 140 
Hyrax, fossil remains found in 
the Fayum, 125 


ik 


Ichthyornis — skeleton of 
toothed bird, 237 
Ichthyosaurus : 
Excrement, fossilized lump, 
showing spiral groov- 
ing, 229 
Extinct order of reptiles, 
192 
Eyes—third or pineal eye 
placed on the top of the 
head, 227, 228 


> 


Ichthyosaurus—contd. 
Fish-like or whale-like ap- 
pearance, 226, 227 
Head of, from Liassie rocks 
of Lyme Regis, 6 
Large-paddled ichthyosau- 

rus preserved in Lias- 
sic rock, 225 
Offspring of four-legged ter- 
restrial reptiles, 227 
Size of, 222 
Skeletons, 225, 229 
Young, bringing forth alive, 
231 
Iguana—upper jaw showing 
serrated edges of teeth 
similar to those of the 
iguanodon, 200 
Iguanodon : 
Bones and teeth, discover- 
ies made by Dr. Gide- 
on Mantell, 199, 200 
Footprint, supposed, in Isle 
of Wight sandstone, 
54 
Foot like that of a bird— 
stock from which birds 
have been derived, 202 
Size, shape, ete.—probable 
appearance in living 
condition, 198, 199 
Skeletons : 
Complete skeletons dis- 
covered near Brussels, 
201 
Drawing of, 197 
Skull—specimen discovered 
near Brussels, 201— 
photograph, 202 
Teeth showing — serrated 
margin, 199 


3T0 


Ilford 


INDEX 


Iguanodon—contd. 

Similarity of teeth to 
those of the little South 
American lizard igu- 
ana, 200 

brickfield, remains of 
mammoth, ete., found 
in, 92, 295 


Illustrations : 


American mastodon, 101 
Ammonites, 267 
Ancyloceras, shell of, 269 
Apteryx, ostrich and giant 
moa with eggs, 242 
Archeopteryx, 238 
Armadillo, 169 
Arsinéitherium, 152, 153 
Atlantosauros,thigh-bone, 11 
Beavers, 15 
Belemnite’ scuttle-fish speci- 
mens, 270, 271 
Birkinia, Silurian fish, 262 
Bognor rock, 45 
Bones embedded in rock, 
from Pikermi near 
Athens, 2 
Brain-cavity of Dinoceras, 
small size compared 
with that of the horse, 
ete., 150 
Brontosaurus, skeleton, 205 
Cephalaspis, 258 
Ceteosaurus, Diplodochus 
and Brontosaurus, 206 
Chilian coast, change in 
level ; alleged Spanish 
inscriptions on rocks, 
38, 39, 40 
Chlamydosaur from Queens- 
land, 195 
Clouded tiger, teeth of, 81 
Coccosteus : curious Devon- 
ian fish, 257 


Tllustrations—contd. 

Coypu rat, teeth of, 82 

Crocodile—fossil jaw, 82 

Deer—skeleton of male of 
giant Irish deer, 94 

Dinoceras, 148, 149 

Dinosaur stegosaurus, 208 

Dinosaur, Triceratops — 
three-horned dinosaur, 
207 

Dinotherium, skull of, 118 

Diprotodon — skull, skele- 
ton, ete., 185-188 

Dodo, 26, 27 

Drawings by primitive men 
91, 92 

Drepanaspis, 261 

Dromatherium, lower jaws 
of, ete., 189 

Divinariver, Northern Rus- 
sia — Professor Ama- 
litzky’s discoveries,213 

Ear of man, show spiral 
construction of inter- 
nal ear, 74-76 

Elephant, mammoth, and 
mastodon— transverse 
ridges on molar teeth, 
110-113, 115 

Elephants : 

Head of African elephant, 
with uplifted trunk 
122 

Indian and African ele- 
phants, 97, 98 

Skulls, 104, 107, 108, 109 

Skulls and jaws of series 
of elephant ancestors, 
126, 128 

Tusks, specimens in 
Natural History Mu- 
seum, 99 


311 


INDEX 


Illustrations—conitd. 


Fayum Desert, remains of 
silicified trees, 124 
Flint implements, 86 
Footprints of animals in 
ancient rocks, 54, 55 
Ganoid fish fossil, 250 
Hard bony scales of, 247 
Giraffe, 21 
Five-horned giraffe, 156, 
157 
Teeth of lower jaw and 
allied animals, 159 
Glyplodon—skeleton, 170 
Great auk and egg, 23, 
25 
Horse : 
Hyracotherium, Eocene 
ancestor, 139, 140 
Model of thoroughbred 
English horse, 133 
Phenacodus, skeleton of, 
141 
Toes and foot of modern 
horse and of four-toed 
and three-toed ances- 
tors) aso: 137.138 
Horse and man, skeletons 
compared, 70—72 
Human teeth, 80 
Ichthyornis—toothed bird, 
237 
Ichthyosaurus, 6, 225, 226, 
228, 229 
Iguanodon, 197, 198, 199, 
200, 202 
Inostransevia, skeleton and 
skull, 220, 221, 222 
Jaw of mammal _ from 
Stonesfield slate, 84 
Jelly fish preserved in litho- 
graphic limestone, 48 


312 


Illustrations—contd. 


King-crab, 281-286 
Lasanius—Silurian fish, 262 
Lingula, shell of, 272, 273 
Lizard : 
Mexican horned lizard, 
194 
New Zealand lizard, Tua- 
tara, 193 
Loligo media — cuttle-fish 
living in British seas, 
22, 
Lyme Regis, strata of cliff 
at, 49, 51 
Mammoth : 
Imaginary picture of, 96 
Skeleton found frozen in 
Siberia, 93 
Mastodons : 
Meritheriwm, 129, 130 
Tetrabelodon angustidens, 
long-jawed Miocene 
mastodon, 116, 117, 
119, 121 
Megalosaurus — skeleton, - 
203 
Megatherium—skeleton, 7 
Moa—New Zealand moa, 
68, 69 
Mylodon : 
Remains of, discovered 
in cave, 
Piece of skin of the 
mylodon, ete., 175, 176 
Various specimens found 
with the remains” of 
the mylodon, 177-182 
View from the mouth of 
the cave on the fiord of 
the Ultima Speranza 
in Southern Patagonia, 
174 


INDEX 


Illustrations—contd. 
Skeleton, 173 
Nodules containing skele- 
tons of reptiles—Pro- 
fessor Amalitzky’s dis- 
coveries, 213-216 
Occipital condyles in skulls 
of mammals and rep- 
tiles, 73, 74 
Okapi, specimen of, dis- 
covered by Sir Harry 
Johnston, ete., 163, 
164, 165 
Osteolepis—extinct ganoid 
fish, 251 
Pariasaurus—skeleton, 211, 
218—skull, 219 
Pearly nautilus, 267, 268 
Phororachus, 240 
Pig’s teeth, 77, 79 
Plesiosaurus, 223, 224 
Polypterus of the Nile, 
249 
Pteraspis, 259, 260 
Pterichthys, 254, 255 
Pterodactyles, 230, 231, 235 
Puzzuoli, Roman remains 
at, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37 
Quagga, 18 
Rhinoceros : 
Skeleton of Rhinoceros 
antiquitatis, 143 
Skulls of African square- 
mouthed — rhinoceros 
and of Rhinoceros anti- 
quitatis (found in Lon- 
don), 10 
Stuffed specimen — of 
square-mouthed rhino- 
ceros, 144 
Ripple marks preserved in 
Triassic strata, 53 


Tllustrations—contd. 
Samotherium: skull, 161 
Scorpions and scorpion-like 
creatures, 276-283, 286 

Sea-cow discovered by 
Steller, 22 

Shark—jaw and tooth of 
the great shark, 264, 
265 

Sivatherium, 160 

Skeleton of animal found 
embedded in caleare- 
ous rock at Montmar- 
tre, Paris, 46 

Skulls of monkey, primitive 
man, and modern man, 
88, 89 

Sloth, 168, 171 

Stone-lilies, 287, 288, 289, 
291 

Tilted strata of chalk at 
Seaford, Sussex, 50 

Titanotherium, 145, 146, 147 

Tortoise of Court House, 
Mauritius, 29 

Toxodon, 8 

Trilobites from Silurian 
rocks of New York, 275 


Urus or bull of Julius 
Cesar, 17 

Wings—birds, bats, and 
pterodactyles com- 


pared, 233 
Wings of dragon-fly and 
pterodactyle preserved 
in limestone, 47 
Wolf, 14 
Zebra, 19 
India — remains of Thero- 
morphs found in, 210 
elephant refer to 
title Elephants 


Indian 


313 


INDEX 


Indian or or-ental 


region— 
zoological province, 63, 

65 
Information concerning ex- 
tinct animals, sources 

of : 
Author’s advice to those 
seeking information, 

294 


Bones and teeth found in 
the earth, 2—4 
Tradition, 1 
Inostransevia — skeleton and 
skull of huge specimen 
discovered by Profes- 
sor Amalitzky, 220,221 
Insects : 
Flying insects, 232, 234 
Fossilized wings, preserva- 
tion in stratified rock, 
46, 47 
Trish deer—skeleton of male 
of giant Irish deer, 94, 
95 
Isle of Wight : 
Footprint of animal in the 
sandstone, 54 
Fossils—where fossils are 
to be found, 295 


J 


skull of monkey-man 
discovered in, 88 

Jaws refer to Teeth 

Jelly fish preserved in litho- 
graphic limestone, 48 

Johnston, Sir Harry, 156, 158, 
161, 163 

Julius Cesar, great 
urus of, 16, 17 


Java 


bull or 


Ik 


Kangaroos—giant kangaroos: 
Bones of gigantic creatures 
found in Australia, 184 
Living specimens in Aus- 
tralia, size of, com- 
pared with gigantic ex- 
tinct creatures of the 
same kind, 166 
Kansas’ refer to United 
States of America 
King-crab 
Animal which connects the 
scorpions with extinct 
Eurypterids and Tri- 
lobites, 280 
Diagrams of, 284, 285 
Dorsal view of—illustra- 
tion, 283 
Member of class Arachnida 
—scorpion-like  crea- 
ture, 281 
Only surviving representa- 
tive of aquatic ances- 
tors from which mo- 
dern air - breathing 
scorpions and spiders 
have been developed, 
282 
Segments and post - anal 
spine or sting of scor- 
pion to compare with 
the king-crab, 286 
Kipling, Mr. Rudyard, 120, 
122 
Kiwi—wingless bird found in 
New Zealand, 241 
Knowledge, imparting—logi- 
cal method v. exciting 
the desire to know, 
a7 


314 


{NDEX 


L 


Labyrinthodonts : 

Allied to creatures which 
form the class Amphi- 
bia, and essentially 
aquatic animals, 245 

Size and shape of large alli- 
gators, 246 

Lanarkshire—fishes found in 
Silurian strata, 261 

Land, rising and sinking see 
title, Changes in the 
earth 

Land-dwelling reptiles refer 
to Reptiles, and names 
of reptiles 

Lasanius—oldest remains of 
fishes which have been 
discovered, 262 

Leeds, Mr. A. N., 223 

Lepidosiren — mud-fish — of 
South America, 248 

Lepidosteus—specimen of ga- 
noid fish in North 
American lakes, 248 

Lepidotus helvenis—fossil ga- 
noid fish—illustration, 
250 

Limestone — fossilized wings 
of insects, etc., pre- 
served in, 46, 47 

Limestone in solution, amount 
carried past Kingston 
by the Thames every 
year, 44 

Limulus Polyphemus—dorsal 
view of the king-crab, 
283 

Lingula, shells of, found in 


the Cambrian rocks, 
272 


Lingula—contd. 
Complex structure of living 
owners of these shells, 
Ces, VAP Palio 
Lizard : 
Chlamydosaur from Queens- 
land—photograph, 195 
Flying lizards, 234 
Great girdled lizard—photo- 
graph, 196 
Jawbones found in Oolitic 
strata supposed at first 
to be those of izards, 
but afterwards found 
to belong to small 
mammals, 188 
Mexican horned lizard or 
horned toad, 194 
New Zealand lizard Tua- 
tara—photograph, 193 
Local naturalists rarer now 
than they were forty 
years ago, 296 
Loligo media—cuttle-fish liv- 
ing in British seas, 272 
London—skull of rhinoceros 
found in Whitefriars, 


9, 10 

Lycosaurus — remains dis- 
covered in Cape Co- 
lony — Inostransevia 


allied to, 221 
Lyme Regis : 
Ichthyosaurus head from 
Liassic rocks of, 6 
Strata of cliff at, 48, 49, 51 


M 


Madagascar, wingless birds 
found in, 240 
Malta, shark’s teeth found in, 


264 


315 


INDEX 


Malvern Hills—where fossils 
are to be found, 295 
Mammals : 
Ancestry—size an descrip- 
tion of original “‘ type,” 


114 
Brains of ancient big mam- 
mals much smaller 


than those of recent 
big animals, 148-151 

Classification of — tabular 
list of chief orders, 
57 

Ear, spiral construction of 
internal ear, 74-76 

Oldest remains—fossil jaw 
found at Stonesfield, 
one of most ancient 
evidences of existence, 
82, 84, 186, 188 

Skulls provided with pair 
of condyles, 73 

Teeth refer to title, Teeth 


Mammoth : 

Appearance in life, imagi- 
nary picture of, 96 

Description of, 91 

Drawings by prehistoric 
men, 90, 91 

Hairy skin, 94 

Remains of, found all over 
the Holarctic region, 
91, 92, 93 


Skeleton of mammoth 
found frozen in Siberia, 
93 

Teeth — transverse ridges 
110, 111 

Man : 

Prehistoric man see that 

title 


Man—contd. 

Skull, size of : 

Giant Australian Dipro- 
todon, size of skull 
compared with that of 
human skull, 185 

Modern man compared 
with that of a monkey 
and of a primitive man, 
88-90 

Man and_ horse — skeletons 
compared, correspond- 
ence in details of struc- 
ture, 70 

Mantell, Dr. Gideon, 200 

Maps : 

Europe — elevation of the 
sea-bottom, effect on 
distribution of land 
and water, 40, 41, 42 

Zoo-geographical map, 63— 
66 

Marine creatures’ refer to 
titles, Reptiles, Fishes, 
Shells, also names of 
creatures 

Marsh, Prof., 147, 206 

Marsupials : 

Australia distinguished by, 
64 

Giant Australian marsupial, 
Diprotodon,184—skull 
and skeleton, 185, 186 

Jawbones embedded and 
preserved in ancient 
rocks — specimen dis- 
covered in Stonesfield 
slate near Oxford, 186— 
188 

Mastodon-like creature found 
in the Miocene—Dino- 
therium, 117, 118 


316 


INDEX 


Mastodons : 
American mastodon, 
101, 102, 106, 113 
Skull more projecting 
than that of an ele- 

phant, 105 
Survival later in America 

than in Europe, 102 

Teeth less peculiar than 
those of true elephants 
— fewer transverse 
ridges, 107, 112-113, 114 


100, 


Meritherium, Eocene 
(Egypt) : 
Description of, head, 


teeth, etc., 128-132 
Elephant ancestry, con- 
nection with, 132 
More primitive mastodon 
than any yet known, 
125 
Picture representing pro- 
bable appearance in 
life, 130 
Palzeeomastodon, Eocene 
(Egypt), 126, 128 
Description of—link in 
the series leading back 
from bulldog-faced ele- 
phants to ordinary 
mammals, 127 
Size, 128 
Skulls and jaws of series 
of elephant ancestors 


compared, 126, 127, 
128 

Tetrabelodon  angustidens, 
long-jawed Miocene 
mastodon : 

Drawing representing 

probable appearance in 
life, 119 


Mastodons—contd. 
Tetrabeloden angustidens— 
contd. 

Skeleton from Miocene 
strata of south of 
France, 115, 116 

Trunk not a ‘ trunk,”’ 
but an elongated upper 


lip, 118 
Tusks and _ horizontal 
Tnebinlie,” URE Gi, Elen, 
120, 121 
Mauritius : 
Dodo found in, 26 
Giant tortoise living in 
Court House Garden, 
28, 29 
Megalosaurus : 


Skeleton, drawing of, 203 
Teeth, tiger-like teeth, 204 
Megatherium : 
Comparison with little liv- 
ing sloths of to-day, 
ete., 172 
Photograph of skeleton, 7 
Similarity to sloth, 9 
Meritherium see Mastodons 
Mesohippus — three-toed an- 
cestor of the 
136 
Teeth, 141 
Meyer, Herman von, 76 
Middle Tertiary Period, see 
Oligocene Period 
Migration of Animals : 
Results of—Tapir found 
alive in Sumatra and 
also in Central Amer- 
ica, 66 
Zoo-geographical map, 63— 
66 
Miller, Hugh, 252-256 


horse, 


317 


INDEX 


Moa: 
Eggs of apteryx, ostrich 
and the giant moa— 
size compared, 242, 
243 
New Zealand giant bird 
see New Zealand 
Size of the Madagascar moa, 
242 
Models of horses and cattle : 
Set of, in the Natural His- 
tory Museum, 133 
Value of models as a record 
of best breeds, 134 
Monkey, monkey-man, and 
modern man-skulls 
compared, 88—90 
Monstrous size—giants in for- 
mer days, theory of, 2, 
165, 166 
Montmartre, Paris—skeleton 
of animal found in 
stratified rock, 46 
Moreno, Dr., 175 
Mud-fishes allied to the ganoid 
fishes —mud-fishes of 
Australia and South 
America, 248 
Mule — okapi as hybrid or 
‘““mule”’ between ze- 
bra and giraffe theory, 
164, 165 
Murchison, Sir R., 296 


Mylodon : 
Date of extinction — sup- 
posed date, 174, 182, 

183 
Remains discovered in cave 
of the Ultima Speranza 
in South-west Patago- 
nia—fresh remains, ete. 


Mylodon—contd. 

Alive in the cave—indi- 
cations that the mylo- 
dons lived in the cave 
and were fed by the 
Indians, 178 


Bones, claws, ete., of the 
mylodon, 178 


Inhabitants of the cave: 
probable Indian inha- 
bitants, 176 


Pellets of dung of the 
mylodon, 178—photo- 
graphs, 177, 181 


Position of the cavern : 
explorers’ difficulties, 
181 


Skin covered with green- 
ish-brown hair, 174; 
photograph, 175, 176 


Skin, hair, etc., preserva- 
tion of, in original 
state—probable expla- 
nation, 182 


Various remains of the 
mylodons and of man, 
177-180 
Skeletons—comparison be- 
tween the skeletons of 
the mylodon and two- 
toed sloth, 172, 173 


N 


Neanderthal, skulls of primi- 
tive men found in sand 
of, 90 

Neo-tropical region—zoologi- 
cal province, 63, 65 


318 


INDEX 


New Zealand : 
Animals—New Zealand dis- 
tinguished from the 
rest of the world, 64 
Birds—giant birds : 
Moa — ostrich-like bird, 
240, 241 
Skeleton constructed by 
Sir R. Owen, 69, 70 
Thigh bone, from which 
existence of bird was 
inferred, 68, 70 
Wingless birds found in 
New Zealand, 240, 241 
Lizard Tua-tara — photo- 
graph, 193 
Nile — Polypterus, specimen 
of ganoid fish still liv- 
ing in the Nile and 
other African rivers, 
248—photograph, 249 
Nodules containing skeletons 
of great reptiles—Pro- 
fessor Amalitzky’s dis- 
coveries, 213-216 
Nordenskjold, Dr., 174 
Norway — changes in coast 
level, 38 


O 


Object of the book—bringing 
to notice a few of the 
marvellous and  de- 
lightful things which 
are known as “ Fos- 
sils,”’? 294 

Occipital condyles — mam- 
mals distinguished by, 
from birds and rep- 
tiles, 73 


Okapi—animal allied to the 
giraffe : 
Equus Johnstoni — name 
given to the okapi by 
Dr. Sclater, 164 
Hoofs, paired hoofs, 161, 
164 
Horns, paired horns, 164 
Skin and skulls discovered 
by Sir Harry John- 
ston, 161, 163 
Skull of a male okapi— 
photograph, 164 
Species — smaller 
larger species, 163 
Specimen of the okapi— 
photograph, 163 
Striped skin on legs and 
haunches, 162 
Girdles and bands for 
ornament made out of 
skin by natives, 163 
‘* Bandoliers ’? cut from 
the striped skin ; pho- 
tograph, 165 
Teeth—crown of tooth in 
lower jaw divided by 
slit into two halves, 
described as bi-foliate, 
159, 162 
Unknown species of animal— 
hybrid or mule be- 
tween a zebra and 
giraffe theory, 164 
Oligocene or Middle Tertiary 
Period — distribution 
of land and water in 
Europe, map showing 
attempt to determine, 
42, 43 
Oriental region — zoological 
province, 63, 65 


and 


319 


INDEX 


Orthoceras—extinct allies of 
pearly nautilus, 268 

Osteolepis — extinct ganoid 
fish : 

Beautifully preserved speci- 
men found in the De- 
vonian strata, 248 

Drawing, 251 

Ostrich-like bird—New Zea- 
land moa see New 
Zealand 

Owen, Sir R., 68, 69, 70, 184, 
186, 271 

Oxen : 

Skull of ox, photograph 
showing occipital con- 
dyles, 73 

Urus of Julius Cesar, 16, 
ly 

Wild cattle still to be found 
in England, ancestry 
om 16; 17 


P 


Paleomastodon, Eocene 
(Egypt), 126, 127, 128 

Paleophonus hunteri—draw- 
ing of the remains of a 
scorpion from Upper 
Silurian of Lesmahago, 
277, 278 

Paleophonus nuncius—Silu- 
rian scorpion of Goth- 
land, 278 

Paleotherium — __ skeleton 
found in caleareous 
rock at Montmartre, 
Paris—photograph, 46 

Paleozoic strata—no reptile, 
bird, or mammal found 
in, 245 


Pariasaurus : 

Nodules containing skele- 
tons— Professor Ama- 
litzky’s discoveries, 
216-220 

Remoteness of the time 
when these reptiles 


lived, 218 
Size of the reptile, 220 
Skeleton set up by Pro- 
fessor Seeley, 211 
Skeleton and skull removed 
from an archangel nod- 
ule, 218, 219 
Skull of Pariasaurus dis- 
covered in Russia: 
species similar to one 
discovered in South 
Africa, 220 
Pearly nautilus—structure of 
shell, species now liv- 
ing, etc., 267, 268 
Penguins — use of wings as 
swimming organs, 244 
Pentacrini see Stone-lilies 


Permian strata on banks of 


the Dwina, North 
Russia — Professor 
Amalitzky’s dis- 


coveries, 212—222 

Peterborough—skeleton of a 
Plesiosaur removed by 
Mr. A. N. Leeds—pho- 
tograph, 223 

Phenacodus — five-toed an- 
cestor of the horse, 139, 
141 

Phororachus of South Amer- 
ica—photograph, ete., 
239, 240 


320 


INDEX 


Phrynosoma orbiculare (Mexi- 
ean horned lizard or 
horned toad)—photo- 
graph, 194 

Pithecanthropus or monkey- 
man—skull compared 
with skulls of chimpan- 
zee and modern man, 
88—90 

Placentalium terra—zoologi- 
eal province, 63, 64 

Plesiosaurs : 

Extinct order of reptiles, 


192 
Form and shape—probable 
appearance in living 


condition, 224 
Number of kinds discovered 
in Lias rocks of the 
south of England, 225 
Size of, 222 
Skeleton of, 223 
Plymouth—changes in coast 
level, 38 
Polypterus—specimen of gan- 
oid fish still living in 
the Nile and other 
African rivers, 248— 
photograph, 249 
Prehistoric man : 
Antiquity of remains in 
Europe, 85-87 
Drawing, skill in — photo- 
graphs of engravings 
upon bone and ivory, 
ete., 90-92 
Skull compared with that 
of a monkey and of a 
modern man, 87—90 
Pritchard, Mr. Hesketh, 181 
Protopterus — mud-fish — of 
Africa, 248 


Pteraspis —fish known by its 
shields, which covered 
head and body, where 
found, ete., 257, 258 

Hinder unknown, 
258 
Specimens obtained by the 
author in  Hereford- 
shire — unique speci- 
mens, etc., 259, 260 


region 


Pterichthys — _ discoveries 
made by Hugh Miller 
from rocks of his na- 
tive hills at Cromarty, 
252 
Cardboard model made by 
Hugh Miller, 255 
Curious bony plates, soft 
scaly tail, etc., 255 
Outline drawing of the fish, 
254 
Pterodactyles—flying reptiles 

Different kinds of Jurassic 
pterodactyles — prob- 
able appearance in life, 
etc., 234, 235 

Extinct order of reptiles, 
192 

Form, size, etc., as it ap- 
peared in flight, 231 

Skeleton, 230 

Wings : 

Formation of — bat-like 
appearance, etc., 232, 
233 

Preserved in sandy lime- 
stone of Oolitic Age, 
46, 47 


Pterygotus — _ scorpion-like 
creature, 278, 280 


Sant Y 


INDEX 


Puzzuoli or Puteoli, condition 
of Roman remains at: 
proof of changes that 
take place in the level 
of the land, 32-38 


Q 


Quagga : 

Extinct, owing to country 
ranged over being oc- 
cupied by white men, 
20 

Photograph of specimen in 
Zoological Gardens in 


1875, 18 
South Africa, inhabitant of, 
18 
Queensland refer to Aus- 


tralia 

Queenstown — Encrinite dis- 
covered by Vaughan 
Thompson, 290 


R 


Raindrops, marks preserved 
on rocks which were 
once soft sand, 53 

Rains and rivers, quantity of 
material carried off 
surface of land by, 43 

Raised beaches, 38, 43, 44 

Rats—teeth of Coypu rat, 81, 
82 

Reindeer—drawings by pre- 
historic men, found in 
caves, 90, 91, 92 

Reptiles : 

Atlantosaurus, thigh-bone 

of, from Jurassic rocks 
of UssAe Ils 


ise) 


Reptiles—contd. 


Birds derived from — rep- 
tiles coming nearest to 
birds in structure, ete., 
235, 236, 239 

Classification of — tabular 
list of chief orders, 
58 

Crocodile see that title 

Difference between living 
and extinct reptiles— 
separate orders made 
for living _ reptiles, 
191 

Extinct orders—disappear- 
ance of remains from 
rocks, ete., 192 

Flying reptiles, 231 

Groups, 190 

Land-dwelling — reptiles— 
great extinct reptiles, 
190-222 

Marine reptiles—represen- 
tativés of extinct or- 
ders of huge aquatic 
creatures, 222 

Pterodactyle skeleton pre- 
served in lithographic 
limestone, 47 

Size of extinct reptiles— 
enormous sizes, 167, 
191 

Snake, fossil remains of, 
found in the Fayum 
125 

Teeth : 

Description of, 81 
Peg-like teeth with single 
fangs, 81, 82, 83 

(refer also to names of 

reptiles) 


INDEX 


Rhinoceros : 
Horns : 
Composition of, etc., 144 


Creatures allied to the 
rhinoceros, horns of, 
144, 146 


Skulls compared — African 
square-mouthed rhino- 
ceros and Rhinoceros 
antiquitatis, 9, 10 

Square-mouthed = African 
rhinoceros (white rhi- 
noceros), 144 

Rhinoceros antiquitatis— 
woolly rhinoceros of 
late Pleistocene period 
in Europe and Siberia : 

Hairy coat, 143 
Skeleton of, 143 
Ripple marks preserved in 
Triassic strata, 53 
Rising and sinking of surface 
of the land see title, 
Changes in the Earth 
Rivers and rains—amount of 
material washed from 
surface of land and 
carried away by, 43 
Roman remains at Puzzuoli, 
condition of—proof of 
changes that take place 
in the level of the land, 
32-38 
Rootzikul—marine_ scorpion- 
like animal from Silu- 
rian rocks, 282 
Russia—Theromorph reptiles, 
discovery and working 
out of skeletons near 
Archangelin North Rus- 
sia by Professor Ama- 
litzki,’ 210, 212-222 


32 


S 
Samos, Island of — Samo- 
therium, giraffe - like 


animal found in Mio- 
cene beds, 159, 160 

Samotherium — giraffe - like 
animal : 

Skull—photograph, 161 

Teeth—crown of tooth in 
lower jaw divided by 
slit into two halves, 
described as bi-foliate, 
159 

Saxony—Triassic rock from, 
showing footprints of 
Cheirotherium, 55 

Scales of fishes see Fishes 

Schweinfurth, traveller, 123 

Sclater, Dr., 164 

Scorpions : 

Ancient and important ani- 
mal—number of dis- 
tinct species: extinct 
species, etc., 276, 277 

Animal which connects 
scorpions with extinct 
Eurypterids and Tri- 
lobites—king-crab, 280 

Desert scorpion—drawing, 
276 

Silurian scorpions and enor- 
mous aquatic scorpion- 
like creatures, 277—282 

IXing-crab see that title 

Scotland—Fishes : 

Fishes with head and body 
shields found in ** corn- 
stones,’ 258 

Miller’s, Hugh, investiga- 
tions relating to the 
Pterichthys, 252-256 


3 


INDEX 


Scotland—Fishes—contd. 
Recent discoveries from the 
Upper Silurian strata, 
262 
Sea Cow: 
Bony plates 
teeth, 23 - 
Description of, 22, 23 
Discovered by Steller, 21 
Fossils found in the Fayum, 
125 
Picture of, 22 
Sirenian group, sea-cow be- 
longing to, 23 
Skull, photograph of, 22 
Seely, Professor, 211 
Seychelles—tortoise becoming 
extinct in, 28 
Sharks : 
Most ancient kind of fish 
known, 247 
Probable size of the great 
shark—100 feet long, 
266 
Teeth — enormous teeth, 
where found, ete., 263, 
264, 265 
Shells and small marine ani- 
mals, ete. : 
Animals which lived inside 
these shells, similarity 
to the cuttle-fish, 269 
Bognor rock with shells em- 


instead of 


bedded, photograph, 
45 

Coiled shells—ammonites, 
pearly nautilus, ete., 
267 

Cuttle-fish —— Belemnite’s 


cuttle-fish, ete., 270 
Extinct allies of nautilus, 
268, 269 


324 


Shells, ete.—contd. 
Lingula, shells of, found in 
the Cambrian rocks, 
PA, PAG: 
Mollusca group, classes in- 
cluded in, 270 
Oldest fossils which are 
known — remains. of 
small marine creatures, 
Par ils YATIP4 
Trilobites see that title. 
Vast number of smaller 
creatures included in 
‘ Extinct Animals ’’— 
mountains built up of 
rock formed by the 
coral, etc., 266 
Siberia—mammoth and rhi- 
noceros remains found 
in, 93, 94 
Silver-scaled fish — varieties 
and comparatively re- 
cent origin, etc., 246 
Sivatherium—extinct animal 
from India : 
Skull—photograph, 160 
Teeth of lower jaw—crown 
divided by slit into two 
halves, described as bi- 
foliate, 159 
Size : 
. Bones — giants in former 
days, theory of, 2 
Mammals, remote ancestor 
not much bigger than 
a dog, 114 
Recent animals, size of, 
compared with their 
representatives in the 
past— illus ons as to 
extinct monsters, 165, 
166 


INDEX 


Size—contd. 

(for particular animals 

see their names) 
Skulls : 
** Bull-dogging”’ of skulls 
in elephants, pugs, etc., 
103-105, 106 
Primitive man, skull com- 
pared with that of a 
monkey and of a mo- 
dern man, 87—90 

particular animals 
see their names) 
Sloths : 

Giant ground sloth, Mega- 
therium : 

Photograph of skeleton, 
7 

Probable appearance in 
life—illustration, 171 

Living sloths of South 
America : 

Size compared with re- 
presentatives in the 
past, 166, 167 

Mylodon and _ two-toed 
sloth, comparison be- 
tween: skeletons, etc., 
172, 173 

Two-toed specimens—pho- 
tograph, 168 

Smaller creatures—vast num- 
ber included in 
“Extinct Animals ”’— 
mountains built up of 
rock formed by the 
coral, etc., 266 

Snake : 

Fossil remains of, found in 
the Fayum, 125 

Size of extinct snakes: 
large size, 191 


(for 


Soft-bodied animals— no re- 
mains in rocks to show 
earliest form of animal 
life preceding the 
Cambrian  Trilobites 
and Lingula, 263, 275 

South Africa see Africa 

South America see America 

Sphenodon punctatus (New 
Zealand lizard, Tua- 
tara)—photograph,193 

Spiders—surviving represen- 
tative of aquatic an- 
cestors from which 
modern air-breathing 
scorpions and spiders 
have been developed, 
282, 283 

Spiral fold on walls of intes- 
tine — skeleton with 
excrement of the 
ichthyosaurus, 229 

Spy, Belgium—skulls of pri- 
mitive men found in 
caverns, 89 

Squirrels—flying squirrels, 234 

Star fish refer to Stone-lilies 

Stegosaurus — probable ap- 
pearance in life of the 
Jurassic Dinosaur Ste- 
gosaurus, 208 

Steller, discoverer 
cow, 21, 22 

Stirling, Dr., 185 

Stone-lilies, or pentacrini, or 
encrinites : 

Block of limestone showing 
several kinds of stone- 
liles from Iowa, 288 

British encrinite—Vaughan 
Thompson’s discovery, 
ete., 290 


of sea- 


INDEX 


Stone-lilies, ete.—contd. 
Young of the feather- 


star — Vaughan 
Thompson’s account 
established, ete., 291, 
292 


Common feather-star of to- 
day—resemblance to 
its remote Cambrian 
ancestors, 293 

Encrinus Fossilis of Blu- 
menbach from rock of 
Jurassic age, 289 

Fossil remains, 287 

Known as fossils before 
they were found in 
the living state, 286, 
293 

Number of, and various 
species, 289, 290, 293 

Stalks, length of—photo- 
graph, etc., 287 

Stonesfield, jaw of mammal 
found at, 82, 84, 188 
Stratification of rocks : 

Hard and soft rock, alter- 

nate layers : 

Pictures showing strata 
of cliff at Lyme Regis, 
48,.49, 51 

Tilting of strata, 48, 49, 50, 

51 

Diagram showing effect 
of bending or undula- 
tion of earth’s crust, 
DOD 

Ripple marks preserved 
in Triassic strata, 53 

Seaford, chalk at, 50 

Time elapsed during form- 
ation of strata, esti- 
mate of, 61, 62 


Stratified rocks : 

Footprints on slabs of Tri- 
assic rock, 53-55 
Formation of stratified de- 

posits from material 
brought down from the 
land by rivers, 44 
Fossilized remains found in: 
Jelly fish preserved in 
lithographic limestone, 
photograph, 48 
Shells embedded in slab 
of Bognor rock, 45 
Skeleton of animal found 
in calcareous rock at 
Montmartre, Paris, 46 
Succession from simpler 
to more complex forms 
of lfe—diagram, etc., 
showing position in 
which animal remains 
have been found, 60—62 
Wings of insects, impres- 
sion preserved in lime- 
stone, 46, 47 
Ripple marks and _ rain- 
drops, preservation of 
marks, 53 
Thickness of systems of 
strata, diagram, etc., 
60, 61 
Sturgeon—ganoid set of fishes 
sturgeon belonging to, 
248 
Stylonurus — scorpion - like 
creature, 278, 281 
Succession of animal life from 
simpler to more com- 
plex forms — position 
in strata in which fos- 
silized remains have 
been found, 60—62 


326 


INDEX 


Suffolk : 

Fossil remains, 66, 295 

Land swallowed up by the 
sea, 43 

Shark’s teeth found in the 
bone-bed of the Red 
Crag at Felixstowe, 
264, 265 

Sussex : 

Bones and teeth of the 
iguanodon discovered 
by Dr. Gideon Mantell, 
200 

Tilted strata of chalk at 
Seaford, 50 


a 


Tadpoles—young of the Laby- 
rinthodonts, 245 


Tanqueray’s, Lord, estate, 
ancestry of wild cattle 

ata on, 17 

Tapirs : 


Fossil remains found all 
over Holarctic region, 
66 

Migration, results of—liv- 
ing tapirs found at pre- 
sent day in Sumatra 
and Central America, 
66 

Teeth and jaws : 

Arsinoitherium, 154 

Bi-foliate canine see sub- 
heading Slit 

Birds, fossil remains of 
birds with teeth, 236 

Dromatherium and Dryo- 
lestes, lower jaws of, 
189 


327 


Teeth and jaws—contd. 


Elephants : 
Description of 
107-110 
Ridges, 110-112 
Fishes—Dipterus, peculiar 
teeth of, 251 
Horse : 
Cheek-teeth of modern 
horse more complex 


teeth, 


than in ancestors, 
140 
Mesohippus, teeth of, 
141 


Upper molar tooth of a 
recent horse, 142 
Human teeth : 
Distinct from all other 
teeth, 80 
Photograph of upper and 
lower jaw bone, 80 
Reduced in number, 79 
Iguanodon—serrated mar- 
gin of teeth, 199, 
200 
Importance of, in deter- 
mining animal _ to 
which a fragment be- 
longs, 76 
Mammals : 
Fossil jaw from Stones- 
field slate, 82, 84, 188 
Modifications in teeth of 
mammals, 81 
“* Reduced dentition,’’ 78 
Typical number of teeth, 
78 
(see also sub-headings, 
names of animals) 
Mammoth, 110, 111 
Mastodons, jaws of, 126, 
127, 128, 129, 13] 


INDEX 


Teeth and jaws—contd. 
Pig’s teeth : 
Description of, number, 
arrangement, etc., 76, 
78 
Front teeth have single 
fang, cheek teeth two 
fangs, 78, 79 
Photographs of, 77, 79 
Standard pattern for 
teeth of all mammals, 
76 
Reptiles, teeth of, 81, 82, 83 
Ridges — elephant, mam- 
moth and mastodon 
compared, 110-115 
Sea-cow—bony plates in- 
stead of teeth, 23 
Sharks — enormous teeth, 
where found, ete., 263, 
264, 265 
Slit—crown of toothin lower 
jaw divided by slit into 
two halves, described 
as bi-foliate — pecu- 
liarity of the giraffe 
and allied animals, 158, 
159 
Tusks see that title 
Two fangs peculiar to mam- 
mals, other animals 
only single fangs, 78 
Tetrabelodon angustidens see 
Mastodon 
Texas, refer to U.S.A. 
Thames, river — amount of 
limestone, etc., carried 
past Kingston each 
year, 43 
Theriogzea or land of big ani- 
mals—zoological pro- 
vince, 63, 64 


Theromorph reptiles : 


Extinct order of reptiles, 
192 

Co-existence of, in the two 
localities, Russia and 
South Africa, 212, 221, 
222 

Older group than Dino- 
saurian reptiles—where 
remains had been dis- 
covered, ete., 209 


Remoteness of the time 


when these _ reptiles 
lived, 218 

Russia, North: Professor 
Amalitzky’s discover- 


ies, 212-222 
Nodules containing skele- 
tons, 213-216 
(for particular members of 


this group see their 
names — Pariasaurus, 
Dicynodon, Inostran- 


sevia, etc.) 

Thickness of each system of 
strata, diagram, etce., 
60-62 

Thigh-bone of Atlantosaurus, 
1 ae 

Thompson, Vaughan, 290 

* Thunder-bolts ’» — Belem- 
nite’s cuttle-fish fossils, 
270 

Tiger—teeth of clouded tiger, 
81 

Tile-fish, destruction of, 

owing to change in 

temperature of sea, 
near American coast, 

31 note 


328 


INDEX 


Theromorph reptiles—contd. 
Tilting of strata, 48, 49, 50, 51 
Diagram showing effect of 
bending or undulation 
of earth’s “* crust,’ 52, 


yes 
Seaford, Sussex, chalk at, 
50 
Time — stratified deposits, 
formation of — esti- 
mate of lapse of time, 
61, 62 


Titanotherium—creature al- 
lied to rhinoceros : 
Brains much smaller than 
those of recent big 
animals, 148-151, 209 
Horns, 146 
Skeleton, picture of, 145 
Skull, Pictures of, 146. 
147 
Tortoise : 
Becoming extinct, 28 
Fossil remains found in the 
Fayum, 125 
Giant living tortoise of the 
Court House, Mauri- 
tius, 28, 29 
Size of extinct tortoises— 
large size, 191 
Toxodon, 9—picture of, 8 
Tradition—information con- 
cerning extinct ani- 
mals handed down 
by, 1 
Traquair, Prof., 260, 261, 262 
Trees — fossilized remains 
found in sand of Fay- 
um Desert, 124 
Triceratops : 
Brain, size of, 209 
Drawing of, 207 


Trilobites—ancient class of 
fossils : 

Animals which connect 
scorpions with the ex- 
tinct Trilobites—king- 
crab, 280 

Number of different kinds— 
primitive marine group 
allied to the scorpions, 
etc., 274. 

Specimens in which legs and 
antennze are well pre- 
served, 275 

Trunk of elephant, develop- 
ment of, from elon- 
gated upper lip of 
mastodon, 118—122 

Tusks : 

Dinoceras, 148 

Dinotherium, mastodon- 
like creature found in 
the Miocene, 117, 118 

Elephants — Indian and 
African elephants com- 
pared — specimens of 
tusks in Natural His- 
tory Museum, 99, 100, 
101 

Tetrabelodon  angustidens, 
116, 117, 120, 121 

Meritherium, 129 


U 


Uganda—five-horned giraffe, 
specimen shot by Sir 
Harry Johnston, 158 

Okap:-skin and skulls dis- 
covered by Sir Harry 
Johnston, 161, 163 


INDEX 


United States of America: 

Atlantosaurus, thigh-bone 
of, from Jurassic rocks, 
ete 1 oa 198 

Coccosteus found in De- 
vonian rocks of Ohio, 
256, 217 

Dimetrodon from the Per- 
mian strata of Texas, 
210, 212 

Dinoceros, skeletons found 
in Upper Eocene of 
Wyoming, 147 

Didosaurian reptiles— pro- 
fusion in which bones 
have been discovered— 
skill and suecess of 
American naturalists, 
etc., 206 

Ichthyornis, toothed bird 
from chalk of Kansas, 
237 

Mastodon remains found in 
bogs, etc., 102 

Scorpion-like creature from 
Pennsylvania, 281 

Shark’s teeth found in 
Maryland, 264 

Stone-lilies from lIowa— 
photograph, 288 

Trilobite from Silurian 
rocks of New York, 
DiAeono 

Urus or bull of Julius Cesar, 
6s 7 
Skull, picture of, 17 


WwW 
Wales—shells of Lingula, dis- 
covered in Cambrian 
rocks, 272, 273 


Warsaw—Professor Amalitz- 
ky’s discoveries at 
Archangel, workshop 
at Warsaw, 216 

Water-birds— extinct Hesper- 
ornis, ete., 244 

Whale-like reptiles—Ichthyo- 
saurus, 226 

Whales : 

Size of, comparisons be- 
tween size of recent 
and extinct animals, 
166, 223 

Skull of, mistaken for that 
of a reptile, 76 

White rhinoceros or square- 
mouthed African rhi- 
noceros see Rhinoceros 

Winged reptiles see Ptero- 
dactyles 

Wings : 

Birds see that title 

Insects — fossilized wings, 
preservation in strati- 
fied rock, 46, 47 

Pterodactyles, flying rep- 
tiles—wings compared 
with birds and bats, 
PRIS Daye Bis 


Swimming organs, pen- 
guins use their wings 
as, 244 


Winton, Mr. de, 125 

Wolf—common grey wolf— 
extinct in England, 
still existing in Europe, 
14, 16 

Wombats—living specimens 
in Australias, size of, 
compared with gigan- 
tic extinct creatures of 
the same kind, 166 


a0 


INDEX 


Woodward, Miss, 130 

Worcestershire — fishes with 
head and body shields 
found in “* cornstones,”’ 


257 
Wyoming, skeleton of the 
Diplodocus excavated 
at, 204 
Yy 
Young animals—features re- 
sembling ancestor 5 


which disappear on at- 
taining full size, 106 


Zebra : 
Africa, zebra common in, 20 
Okapi—hybrid or mule be- 
tween zebra and giraffe 
theory, 164 
Photograph of living zebra, 


19 
Zonurus giganteus great gir- 
dled lizard — photo- 


graph, 196 
Zoo-geographical map, 63-66 


Butler & Tanner, The Selwood Printing Works, Frome, and London, 


331 


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